THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


\'  t> 

}!2 


MOSTLY    MAMMALS 


From  a  drawing  by  J.  Wolf.} 

HEAD  AND  FORE-LIMBS  OF  THE  AYE-AYE  OF  MADAGASCAR. 
Showing  the  attenuated  middle  finger. 


[Frontispiece, 


MOSTLY  MAMMALS 


< 


Zoological  Essays 


BY 

R.    LYDEKKER 


WITH  SIXTEEN 
FULL-PA  GE  ILL USTRA  TIONS 

BY 

THE  DUCHESS  OF  BEDFORD,  LORD  DELAMERE 

THE    HON.   WALTER  ROTHSCHILD 

J.   WOLF,  AND  OTHERS 


NEW    YORK 

DODD    MEAD    &    COMPANY 

LONDON 

HUTCHINSON    &    CO. 
1903 


L<3 


PREFACE 


r  I  ^HE  whole  of  the  articles  collected  in  this 
-L  volume  have  previously  appeared  in  period- 
ical literature;  the  great  majority  in  Knowledge, 
but  others  in  Nature,  the  Field,  and  the  Asian. 
To  the  editors  of  these  journals  the  Author  herewith 
returns  his  best  thanks  for  the  kind  permission 
to  reproduce  the  articles  in  their  present  form ; 
special  thanks  being  due  to  Messrs.  Witherby, 
the  publishers  of  Knowledge,  for  the  loan  of  some 
of  the  original  illustrations. 

The  importance  of  "  nature  study,"  now  coming 
so  much  to  the  fore,  is  strongly  insisted  upon  in 
several  of  the  articles. 

In  a  few  instances  two  or  more  articles  have 
been  combined,  but  for  the  most  part  they  are  re- 
produced as  much  as  possible  in  their  original  form, 
with  such  alterations  as  have  been  found  necessary 
in  order  to  bring  them  up  to  date,  and  with  a 


03GC665 


Ll 


vi  PREFACE 

few  omissions  to  avoid  unnecessary  repetition.  A 
certain  amount  of  repetition  will,  indeed,  still  be 
found  to  exist,  as  somewhat  similar  ground  is,  in 
certain  instances,  traversed  in  the  course  of  two 
separate  articles.  To  have  avoided  this,  would 
have  entailed  practically  re-writing  some,  or  the 
total  omission  of  others  ;  and  it  was  consequently 
decided  to  print  the  entire  series  almost  as  it 
stood. 

HARPENDEN  LODGE,  HERTS, 
April  5//fc,  1903. 


CONTENTS 


PART   I 

PAGE; 

ANIMALS  EXTERMINATED  DURING  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        I 

THE  COLORATION  OF  LARGE  ANIMALS           .    ,  .        8. 

SPOTS  AND  STRIPES  IN  MAMMALS          ...  .27 

THE  DOMESTICATION  OF  WILD  ANIMALS      .  .      39 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  SOME  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS  ,   .,      •  ,..  .        .      48 

HOW  ARCTIC  ANIMALS   TURN  WHITE   .  .      58 

A  LAND  OF  SKELETONS          ...  .69 

SOME  EXTINCT  ARGENTINE  MAMMALS           .          ,  ..                    .      80 

CELEBES  :    A  PROBLEM   IN  DISTRIBUTION     .  .    Io8 

A  DROWNED  CONTINENT       .  .II? 

DESERTS  AND  THEIR   INHABITANTS      .  .12$ 

AFRICA  AND  ITS  ANIMALS     ...  .135 

MONKEY  HAND-PRINTS           ...  .145 

LIVING  MILLSTONES 155 


PART  II 

AN   INVISIBLE  MONKEY           .          .  .    167 

SOME  QUEER-NOSED   MONKEYS      .  .171 

A  REMARKABLE  MAMMAL      .  .    179 

THE  PEDIGREE  OF  THE   CAT          ;  .                                .                     .    l88 

THE  PEDIGREE  OF  THE  DOG          ,  .                                                       -197 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


TWO   FASHIONABLE  FURS 2C>7 

THE  SEA-OTTER  AND   ITS   EXTERMINATION  .  .  .  .217 

A  GIANT  AMONG  SEALS 325 

THE   FLYING-SQUIRRELS  OF   ASIA  AND  AFRICA    .  .  .  .235 

THE  BEAVER   IN  NORWAY 244 

THE  EXTINCT  QUAGGA 352 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN   HIPPOPOTAMUSES 261 

THE  DEER  OF  THE  PEKING  PARKS       ....  2;i 

FOUR-HORNED   SHEEP .  .    2go 

MUSK-OXEN   IN  ENGLAND      .  .  ,  .          .          .  .   28; 

THE  WILD  OX  OF  EUROPE    .  ,  ,       .          .  .          .  .  293 

THE  SMALLEST  WILD  CATTLE ,  .303 

ARMOUR-CLAD  WHALES          '.  ,  .  .          .  .  .  308 

SLOTHS  AND  THEIR  HAIR     .  .  .  .  .  .   314 

BLIND  CAVE- ANIMALS    .  ...  .       '    .  .          .  .322 

GIANT  LAND-TORTOISES         .  /        .  .  .  .  .  .331 

SOME  STRANGE  NURSING   HABITS          .  ...  ."        .341 

THE  COLOURS  OF  COWRIES.  .  .  ....  .    351 

BREEDING  HABITS  OF   FROGS   AND  TOADS   .  .  .  .  .361 

SCORPIONS  AND  THEIR  ANTIQUITY      .          .          .          .          .          .   368 

....          .          ,  .          .          .  .          .  .376 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


HEAD  AND  FORE-LIMBS  OF  THE  AYE-AYE  OF  MADAGASCAR.   Frontispiece 

From  a  Drawing  by  J.  IVolf. 

EAST  AFRICAN  GIRAFFES  IN  COVERT.       .       .       .     To  face  page      16 

From  a  Photograph  by  Lord  Delamere. 

ARCTIC  FOXES MM          66 

From  Photographs  by  the  Scholastic  Photographic  Agency. 

AFRICAN  ELEPHANTS    ....       .       .       .       v         ti         ^o 

From  a  Photograph  by  Lord  Delamere. 

MONKEY  HAND-PRINTS       ......,,  ,,  146 

WHITE-TAILED  GUEREZA     .       .  "    .       .       .       .       ,,  „  168 

MALE  PROBOSCIS  MONKEY   .        .        ,               .       .       „  M  I72 

ORANGE  SNUB-NOSED  MONKEY „  „  ^4 

AN  AFRICAN  SCALE-TAIL  IN  FLIGHT                               „  n  236 

THE  WOOLLY  FLYING-SQUIRREL  OF  ASTOR  AND  GILGIT  ,,  „  23$ 

A  COLONY  OF  BEAVERS „  „  248 

A  PEKING  STAG  WITH  THE  ANTLERS  IN  VELVET     .       „  „  272 

Front  a  Photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford. 

PERE  DAVID'S  MI-LOU  DEER      •        ....„         „         274 

From  a  Photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford. 

YOUNG  BULL   MusK-Ox  WITH   THE   HORNS  ABOUT 

HALF   GROWN „  „  290 

From  a  Photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford. 

MALE  AND  FEMALE  ANOA,  OR  DWARF  BUFFALO      .       „         „         304 

From  a  Photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford. 

THE  GIANT  TORTOISE  OF  SOUTH  ALDABRA  ISLAND  .       „         „         338 

From  a  Photograph  by  S.  G.  Payne,  by  permission  of 
the  Hon.  Walter  Rothschild. 

ix 


PART   I 


MOSTLY   MAMMALS 


ANIMALS     EXTERMINATED      DURING     THE 
NINETEENTH     CENTURY 

WHILE  the  century  which  has  lately  closed  may  fairly  lay 
claim  to  the  gratitude  of  posterity  on  account  of  the  mag- 
nificent tale  of  zoological  work  accomplished  during  its 
course,  it  is,  on  the  other  hand,  undoubtedly  open  to  the 
charge  of  having  permitted  the  total  extermination  of  not 
a  few  animals,  and  of  having  allowed  the  numbers  of 
others  to  be  so  reduced  that  their  disappearance,  at  least 
as  truly  wild  creatures,  can  scarcely  be  delayed  very  many 
years  longer.  Possibly,  if  not  probably,  the  sweeping  away 
of  the  enormous  herds  of  many  species,  like  those  of  the 
American  bison,  may  have  been  an  inevitable  accompani- 
ment of  the  march  of  civilisation  and  progress ;  but  there 
is  no  sort  of  excuse  to  be  made  for  the  fact  that  in 
certain  instances  naturalists  failed  to  realise  that  species 
were  on  the  very  verge  of  extermination,  and  that  they 
were  actually  allowed  to  disappear  from  the  world  without 
being  adequately  represented  in  our  museums.  Nor  is  it 
by  any  means  certain  that  even  the  present  generation  is 
altogether  free  from  reproach  in  this  matter,  for  although 
it  cannot  be  said  that  any  species  hovering  on  the  verge 
of  extermination  are  absolutely  unrepresented  in  collections, 

i  i 


2  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

yet  whether,  sufficient  specimens  of  such  species  are 
being  preserved  for  our  successors  may  be  an  open 
question. 

It  is  not  my  intention  in  this   article   to  allude   to   the 
hosts   of  animals   whose   numbers    have  been   reduced   in 
such  a  wholesale  manner  during  the  century  as  to  render 
them    in    more    or    less   immediate   danger   of    impending 
extermination,  but  to  confine  our  attention  in  the  main  to 
those  on  whom  this  fate  has  already  fallen.     And  here  it 
may  be   mentioned   with   satisfaction    that   India   enjoys   a 
remarkably  good  record  in  this  respect,  for,  so  far  as  we 
are  aware,  it   has   not   lost   a   single   species   of  mammal, 
bird,   or  reptile,    either   during   the   nineteenth   century   or 
within  the  period  of  definite  history.     It  is  true  that  the 
numbers  and  range   of  the    Indian   lion    have    been    sadly 
curtailed  during  the  last  fifty  years,  and  that  if  steps  are 
not  promptly  taken  for  its  protection  that  animal  may  ere 
long  disappear  from  the  Indian  fauna.     But,  at  any  rate, 
it   has   not   done   so    at    present ;    and   even    were    it   ex- 
terminated   in    that   country,    this    would    not    mean    the 
extinction  of  a   species,  and   possibly  not   even  of  a  local 
race,  since  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Persian  represen- 
tative  of  the   lion  (which   is   still   abundant)  may   not  be 
distinguishable  from  the  Indian  animal.     Of  large  animals 
peculiar  to  India,  perhaps  the  great  Indian  rhinoceros  is  the 
one  that  requires  most  careful  watching  in  order  that  its 
numbers  and  its  range  may  not  be  unduly  reduced  before 
it  is  too  late  to  take  adequate  measures  for  its  protection. 

We  have  said  that  the  century  is  responsible  for  the 
extinction  of  no  inconsiderable  number  of  the  world's 
animals.  But  it  must  not  for  one  moment  be  supposed 
that,  within  the  historic  period,  no  such  exterminations  by 
human  agency  had  taken  place  in  previous  centuries.  We 


EXTERMINATED   ANIMALS  3 

have  to  go  back  so  far  as  the  year  1615  for  the  last  evidence 
of  the  existence,  in  a  living  state,  of  the  great   flightless 
rail  (Aphanapteryx)  of  Mauritius  and  Rodriguez  ;   while  the 
journal  of  .the  mate  of  the  Berkeley  Castle,  in  1681,  is  the 
last  record  of  the  dodo  being  seen  alive.     Again,  the  tall 
and  flightless  solitaire  of  Rodriguez  is  not  definitely  known 
to  have  been  met  with  by  Europeans  after  1691,  although 
there  is  some  evidence  to  indicate  that  it  may  have  lingered 
on  in  the  more  unfrequented  portions  of  the  island  till  as 
late   as    1761.      Of   the   extinct   geant,   or    Mauritian   coot 
(Leguatici),  we  have   no    evidence   of  its   existence   subse- 
quent to  1695  ;  while  our  last  record  of  the  crested  parrot 
(Lophopsittacus)  is  as  far  back  as  1601.     The  great  northern 
sea-cow  (Rhytina  gt'gas),  which  was  only  discovered  on  the 
islands  of  the  Bering  Sea  in   the  year   1741,  had  entirely 
ceased  to  exist  by  about  1767.     Moreover,  the  giant  tortoise 
of   Reunion    appears  to  have  become  extinct  in  its  native 
island   previous   to   the    dawn   of  the   nineteenth   century, 
as  was  probably  the  case  with  some  of  the  other  species 
formerly  inhabiting  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean.* 

Neither  can  the  nineteenth  century  be  held  responsible 
for  the  extermination  of  the  South  African  blaauwbok 
(Hippotragus  leucophaeus),  a  smaller  relative  of  the  roan 
antelope,  since  the  last  known  example  is  believed  to  have 
been  killed  in  or  about  the  year  1799.  It  had  always  a 
curiously  restricted  habitat,  being  confined  to  a  small  area 
in  the  Swellendam  district. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  great  auk  is  a  bird  whose  loss 
we  owe  to  the  carelessness  of  the  naturalists  of  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  for  there  is  little  doubt  that  if 
protective  measures  had  been  taken  in  time,  it  might  have 
been  alive  at  the  present  day.  From  the  American  side 
*  See  the  article  in  the  sequel  on  "Giant  Land-Tortoises. 


4  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  the  Atlantic  it  probably  disappeared  somewhere  about 
the  year  1840;  while  the  summer  of  1844  witnessed  the 
destruction  of  the  last  European  pair  of  this  remarkable 
bird,  the  last  British  representative  of  the  species  having 
been  hunted  to  death  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Waterford 
Harbour  ten  years  previously. 

One  of  the  most  sad  storiesof  extermination,  and  that, 
too,  at  a  comparatively  recent  date,  is  revealed  in  the  case 
of  the  South  African  quagga.  Since  a  full  account  of  the 
species  is  given  in  a  later  article,  it  will  suffice  to  state  here 
that  in  Cape  Colony  the  extermination  apparently  took 
place  about  the  year  1865,  although  the  species  may  have 
survived  a  few  years  longer  in  the  Orange  River  Colony, 
which  was  the  last  stronghold  of  the  species. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  extermination  of 
the  giant  land-tortoise  of  Reunion  during  the  eighteenth 
century;  and  in  the  early  part  of  its  successor  four  other 
species  became  extinct  in  the  neighbouring  islands  of  the 
Mascarene  group — namely,  Testudo  indica,  T.  triserrata,  and 
T.  inepta  in  Mauritius,  and  T.  vosmaeri  in  Rodriguez.  It 
has  likewise  been  considered  probable  that  the  thin-shelled 
tortoise  (T.  abingdoni)  of  Abingdon  Island,  in  the  Galapagos 
group,  is  also  no  longer  existing,  although  it  was  certainly 
alive  as  recently  as  1875. 

Of  birds  that  have  disappeared  during  the  century,  in 
addition  to  the  great  auk,  reference  may  first  be  made  to 
the  black  emeu  (Dromaeus  ater)  of  Kangaroo  Island,  South 
Australia.  When  this  island  was  explored  in  1803  by  a 
French  expedition,  these  birds  were  abundant,  and  three 
were  sent  home  to  Paris,  where  a  pair  lived  till  1822.  On 
their  death,  the  skin  of  one  and  the  skeleton  of  the  other 
were  mounted  for  exhibition  in  the  Paris  Museum,  where 
they  still  remain.  Of  the  third  specimen  no  record  was 


EXTERMINATED  ANIMALS  5 

obtainable  till  1900,  when  its  skeleton  was  discovered  by 
Prof.  Giglioli  in  the  museum  at  Florence.  These  three 
priceless  specimens  are  the  only  examples  of  a  species 
which  became  extinct  in  the  native  state  previous  to  the 
death  of  the  Paris  pair,  and  before  it  was  even  known  to 
be  different  from  the  larger  emeu  of  the  mainland.  For 
it  appears  that  some  years  after  the  visit  of  the  French 
expedition  (to  which  Peron  was  naturalist)  to  Kangaroo 
Island,  a  settler  squatted  there  and  forthwith  set  to  work 
to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  the  emeus  and  kangaroos — a 
task  in  which  he  was  only  too  successful. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  century  another  large  bird 
appears  to  have  made  its  final  exit  from  this  world.  When 
Steller  discovered  the  northern  sea-cow  in  the  islands  of 
Bering  Sea,  he  also  brought  to  the  notice  of  science  a 
new  species  of  cormorant  (Phalacrocorax  perspicillatus), 
which  was  especially  interesting  on  account  of  being  the 
largest  representative  of  its  kind,  and  likewise  by  the  bare 
white  rings  round  its  eyes  and  the  brilliant  lustre  of  its 
green  and  purple  plumage.  Stupid  and  sluggish  in  dis- 
position, Pallas's  cormorant,  as  the  species  is  commonly 
called,  appears  to  have  been  last  seen  alive  about  the  year 
1839,  when  Captain  Belcher,  of  H.M.S.  Sulphur,  was  pre- 
sented with  a  specimen  by  the  Governor  of  Sitka,  who  also 
forwarded  other  examples  to  St.  Petersburg.  Captain 
Belcher's  specimen  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  three  other  skins  are  known  to  be  in  existence 
elsewhere. 

The  great  white  water-hen  (Notornis  albus),  formerly 
inhabiting  Lord  Howe  and  Norfolk  Islands,  must  be  added 
to  the  defunct  list.  And  the  same  is  the  case  with  the 
Tahiti  white-winged  sandpiper,  or  rail  (Hypotoenidia  pacified), 
which  in  Captain  Cook's  time  was  abundant  in  the  island 


6  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

from  which  it  takes  its  name,  as  well  as  in  the  neighbouring 
Eimeo.  The  New  Zealand  quail  (Coturnix  novae-zealandiae) 
is  likewise  entered  in  the  British  Museum  as  extinct.  The 
beautiful  "Pigeon  hollondais"  so  called  from  its  plumage 
presenting  the  Dutch  colours,  and  technically  known  as 
Alectoroenas  nitidissima,  is  a  Mauritian  species  whose  ex- 
termination probably  took  place  during  the  century.  It 
is  known  solely  by  three  examples,  one  of  which  is  pre- 
served at  Port  Louis,  the  second  in  Paris,  and  the  third 
in  Edinburgh. 

Nor  must  we  omit  from  our  list  two  species  of  Kaka 
parrot,  one  of  which  (Nestor  productus)  was  a  native  of 
Philip  Island,  while  the  home  of  the  second  (N.  norfolcensis) 
was  the  neighbouring  Norfolk  Island.  A  species  of  para- 
quet  (Palaeornis  exsul},  peculiar  to  the  island  of  Rodriguez, 
is  also  believed  to  be  exterminated. 

Neither  has  the  duck  family  escaped,  for  the  well-known 
pied  duck  (Camptolaemus  labradorius),  an  ally  of  the  eider 
from  the  North  Atlantic  coast  of  America,  appears  in  the 
defaulters'  list,  the  last  known  example  having  been  killed 
in  1852. 

Passing  on  to  Passerine  birds,  a  notable  loss  is  the  hand- 
some crested  pied  starling  (Fregilupus  varius),  of  Reunion, 
believed  to  have  become  extinct  about  the  middle  of  the 
century.  Of  the  few  remaining  examples  of  this  striking 
species,  one  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  Another 
species,  exterminated  within  approximately  the  same  period, 
is  the  gorgeous  black  and  gold  mamo,  or  sicklebill  (Drepanis 
pacified)  of  Hawaii,  whence  it  was  first  brought  to  Europe 
by  Captain  Cook.  As  narrated  in  the  "  Birds  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,"  by  Messrs.  Scott  Wilson  and  Evans,  the 
extermination  of  this  beautiful  species  is  to  be  attributed 
to  persecution  for  the  sake  of  its  yellow  feathers,  which 


EXTERMINATED   ANIMALS  7 

were  used  for  the  cloaks  of  the  native  chiefs.     About  four 
specimens  are  known  to  be  preserved  in  museums. 

Of  birds  that  have  been  locally  exterminated,  such  as 
the  burrowing  petrel  (Oestrelata  haesitatd),  known  in  the 
Antilles  as  the  diablotin,  it  is  not  our  intention  to  speak 
on  this  occasion.  This  article  may  accordingly  be  fitly 
brought  to  a  close  by  an  extract  from  Prof.  A.  Newton's 
"  Dictionary  of  Birds,"  referring  to  two  instances  where 
species  may  have  perished  within  the  century  without 
having  ever  come  definitely  under  the  notice  of  ornitho- 
logists. After  stating  that  one  Ledru  accompanied  an 
expedition  dispatched  by  the  French  Government  in  1796  to 
the  West  Indies,  the  Professor  proceeds  to  observe  that 
this  explorer  "gives  a  list  of  the  birds  he  found  in  the 
islands  of  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Croix.  He  enumerates 
fourteen  kinds  of  birds  as  having  occurred  to  him  then. 
Of  these  there  is  now  no  trace  of  eight  of  the  number ; 
and,  if  he  is  to  be  believed,  it  must  be  supposed  that 
within  fifty  or  sixty  years  of  his  having  been  assured 
of  their  existence  they  have  become  extinct.  ...  If  this 
be  not  enough,  we  may  cite  the  case  of  the  French  islands 
of  Guadeloupe  and  Martinique,  in  which,  according  to 
M.  Guyon,  there  were  once  found  six  species  of  Psittaci, 
all  now  exterminated ;  and  it  may  possibly  be  that  the 
macaws,  stated  by  Messrs.  Gosse  and  March  to  have 
formerly  frequented  certain  parts  of  Jamaica,  but  not 
apparently  noticed  there  for  many  years,  have  fallen  victims 
to  colonisation  and  its  consequences." 


THE  COLORATION  OF  LARGE  ANIMALS 

To  the  more  observant  class  of  sportsmen  the  stay-at-home 
naturalist  is,  of  necessity,  indebted  for  most  of  his  infor- 
mation with  regard  to  the  habits  of  large  animals  and 
their  adaptation  to  their  inanimate  environment.  And  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that,  in  the  main,  he  has  but  little 
cause  of  complaint  as  to  the  accuracy,  fulness,  and  abund- 
ance of  the  information  thus  supplied.  One  subject,  and 
that  a  very  interesting  and  important  one,  in  connection 
with  large  animals  in  the  field,  seems,  however,  to  have 
attracted  but  a  small  share  of  attention  on  the  part  of 
sportsmen  and  travellers,  although  it  is  obvious  that  what- 
ever theories  and  conclusions  the  naturalist  may  draw 
from  the  study  of  museum  specimens  must  be  put  to  the 
test  by  observations  in  the  field  before  they  can  be  regarded 
as  of  any  definite  and  established  value.  I  refer  to  the 
connection  between  the  different  types  of  coloration  of  the 
larger  animals  and  their  natural  surroundings.  Apart 
from  casual  remarks  with  regard  to  the  harmony  existing 
between  the  dappled  coloration  of  a  South  African  giraffe 
and  the  splashes  of  light  and  shade  in  the  mimosa  groves 
it  inhabits,  the  resemblance  presented  by  a  tiger's  stripes 
to  the  dead  grass  of  the  surrounding  jungle,  and  such-like, 
I  can  recall  scarcely  a  single  observation  recorded  by 
sportsmen  or  travellers  which  is  of  any  real  scientific  value 
in  connection  with  the  subject  in  question.  One  important 


THE  COLORATION   OF  LARGE  ANIMALS          9 

exception — namely,  the  observation  made  several  years  ago 
that  zebras  standing  on  the  open  veldt  in  bright  moonlight 
are  practically  invisible  at  a  short  distance — must,  however, 
be  made  to  this  sweeping  assertion.  And  it  is  scarcely 
too  much  to  say  that  this  important  observation— which 
applies  also,  I  believe,  to  a  considerable  extent  to  the 
same  animals  in  daylight — has  formed  the  starting-point 
of  modern  ideas  with  regard  to  the  purport  and  meaning 
of  many  types  of  mammalian  coloration. 

Before  alluding  in  detail  to  these  ideas  and  theories,  in 
order  to  show  what  has  been  done  and  what  remains  to 
be  done  in  this  line  of  research,  it  may  be  well  to  point 
out  that,  with  the  aforesaid  exception  of  the  zebras,  practi- 
cally all  our  conclusions  with  regard  to  the  purport  of  the 
coloration  of  most  of  the  larger  mammals  have  been  drawn 
from  the  examination  of  stuffed  specimens  or  skins,  sup- 
plemented by  observations  upon  domesticated  animals,  or 
species  living  in  a  semi-domesticated  state  in  parks  or 
zoological  gardens.  With  regard  to  foreign  species  kept 
in  parks  or  menageries,  the  observations  are  not,  in  most 
cases,  of  any  real  value,  on  account  of  the  circumstances 
that  the  animals  are  living  under  changed  conditions,  and 
not  amid  their  natural  surroundings.  When  skins  are  once 
deposited  in  a  museum  the  naturalist  has  no  means  what- 
ever of  ascertaining  by  actual  experiment  how  their 
coloration  harmonises,  or  otherwise,  with  their  natural 
environment,  all  that  he  can  do  being  to  glean  as  much 
as  possible  with  regard  to  the  latter  from  the  accounts  of 
eye-witnesses,  and  to  draw  his  conclusions  accordingly. 
Something  might  doubtless  be  done  if  it  were  permissible 
to  take  the  skins  into  the  woods  and  open  country  and 
test  their  conspicuousness  or  invisibility  by  experiment ; 
but  even  such  experiments  cannot,  in  most  cases  at  any 


io  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

rate,  be  conducted  with  museum  specimens ;  and,  if  practi- 
cable, they  would,  at  the  best,  give  us  but  a  poor  inkling 
of  the  real  truth.  What  we  want  are  precise  and  accurate 
observations  made  on  living  animals  with  regard  to  the 
harmony  between  their  colours  and  their  surroundings ; 
and  such  observations  can  only  be  made  by  sportsmen  and 
travellers,  and  more  especially  by  the  former.  And  to  be 
of  any  real  value  such  observations  must  be  made  under 
all  conditions :  in  the  case  of  a  forest  animal,  for  instance, 
both  when  the  creature  is  in  the  woods  and  when  out 
feeding  in  the  open.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  it  is  necessary 
to  ascertain  what  portions  of  an  animal's  coloration  are 
adapted  to  render  the  body  inconspicuous  under  all 
circumstances — such  as  the  white  of  the  under-parts  to 
counteract  the  effect  of  shadow — and  what  portions  have 
been  developed  in  correlation  with  the  particular  natural 
surroundings  of  a  species  or  group.  Then,  again,  we  have 
to  distinguish  between  protective  coloration  and  what  are 
known  as  "  recognition  marks,"  such  as  the  white  under- 
surface  of  the  tail  of  a  rabbit.  Furthermore,  there  is  the 
distinction  between  both  these  types  and  the  so-called 
"  warning  colours,"  like  the  black  and  white  of  the  skunks, 
which  are  apparently  intended  to  render  their  owners  con- 
spicuous, and  thus  protect  them  from  attack,  either  on 
account  of  some  noxious  emanation  they  possess  or  from 
their  fighting  power.  These  warning  colours  are,  however, 
comparatively  rare  among  mammals ;  and  observation  is 
mainly  required  in  regard  to  protective  coloration,  especially 
when  some  species  of  a  group  are  brilliantly  spotted  or 
striped,  while  others  are  uniformly  clad  in  a  less  gorgeous 
livery. 

Speaking    generally,    and    excepting     certain     unusually 
bulky   kinds,  such   as   elephants,   rhinoceroses,  and   hippo- 


THE   COLORATION   OF   LARGE   ANIMALS         n 

potamuses,  it  is  fairly  safe  to  assert  that  among  the 
medium-sized  and  larger  mammals  the  primitive  type  of 
coloration  took  the  form  of  either  striping  or  spotting. 
This  is  demonstrated  by  the  many  known  instances  there 
are  of  the  young  being  striped  or  spotted,  while  the  adults 
are  more  or  less  uniformly  coloured.  As  well-known 
examples  of  this  kind  we  may  cite  tapirs,  wild  swine,  many 
kinds  of  deer,  lions,  and  pumas.  In  many  cases  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  uniform  dull  livery  for  a  spotted  or  striped 
coat  has  evidently  been  in  adaptation  to  an  existence  in 
open  or  desert  country.  Instances  of  this  kind  are  afforded 
by  the  lion  and  the  Cape  eland,  the  latter  of  which  has  lost 
the  stripes  characteristic  of  its  more  northern  representa- 
tive and  of  the  kindred  antelopes  such  as  the  kudus  and 
bushbucks. 

The  fact  that  the  young  of  certain  animals  haunting 
more  or  less  arid  districts,  such  as  the  lion,  still  retain 
their  spots,  while  others,  like  the  eland,  differ  from  their 
relatives  inhabiting  more  wooded  country  only  by  the  loss 
of  their  stripes,  indicates  that  in  these  cases,  at  any  rate, 
the  acquisition  of  a  uniformly  coloured  tawny  coat  is  a 
comparatively  recent  event.  Possibly  an  explanation  of 
this  may  be  afforded  by  the  history  of  deserts  and  semi- 
deserts  themselves.  In  contradistinction  to  the  old  idea 
that  they  are  ancient  upraised  sea-beds,  it  is  now  well 
known  that  all  desert  areas  have  been  formed  very  slowly 
by  the  gradual  decomposition  of  the  rocks  in  countries 
where  there  is  no  rain  to  wash  away  the  debris.  And  it 
seems  by  no  means  improbable — owing  to  the  enormous 
lapse  of  time  necessary  for  their  formation,  coupled,  perhaps, 
with  a  greater  rainfall  over  most  parts  of  the  world  in 
earlier  epochs — that  such  tracts  never  existed  until  late 
in  the  earth's  history. 


12  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Be  this  as  it  may,  we  have  no  sort  of  difficulty  in 
realising  why  many  desert-haunting  animals  have  ex- 
changed a  striped  or  spotted  coat  for  one  of  which  the 
colour  is  manifestly  in  harmony  with  the  natural  surround- 
ings. Our  real  difficulties  occur  in  the  cases  where  animals 
have  a  very  similar  kind  of  habitat,  but  display  a  total 
difference  in  their  type  of  coloration.  Why,  for  instance, 
have  many  kinds  of  deer — notably  the  Indian  sambar  and 
its  kindred — discarded  their  original  spotted  dress  for  one 
of  a  sombre  brown  or  red,  while  others,  like  the  chital 
(at  all  seasons)  and  the  fallow-deer  (in  summer),  have 
retained  the  primitive  dress  ?  Or  why,  again,  are  the 
African  bushbucks  and  kudus,  which  are  as  much  forest 
animals  as  the  sambar,  some  of  the  most  brilliantly 
coloured  of  all  hoofed  animals  ?  If  a  variegated  and 
brilliantly  coloured  coat  is  essential  to  the  well-being  of 
these  animals,  why  is  it  not  equally  essential  to  the 
sambar,  or  vice  versa  ?  It  is  in  regard  to  questions  like 
these  that  naturalists  want  help  and  assistance  from 
sportsmen  and  travellers,  for  at  present  they  are  working 
to  a  great  extent  in  the  dark  owing  to  lack  of  definite 
and  accurate  observations  in  regard  to  the  relation  of 
the  colouring  of  these  and  other  mammals  to  their 
surroundings. 

In  spite,  however,  of  our  ignorance  of  the  reason  why 
some  forest  animals  should  be  uniformly  dark-coloured 
while  others  are  more  or  less  brilliantly  striped,  the  con- 
clusion is  being  gradually  forced  upon  us  that  in  both  cases 
protection  is  the  object.  Apparently,  as  pointed  out  in  the 
sequel,  the  true  explanation  is  that  the  spotted  and  striped 
species  inhabit  bush,  or  the  more  open  parts  of  the  forest, 
while  dusky  species  like  the  sambar  frequent  dense  thickets, 
as,  indeed,  Sir  Samuel  Baker  states,  is  the  habit  of  the 


THE   COLORATION   OF  LARGE  ANIMALS         13 

latter  animal  in  Ceylon.     Moreover,  spotted  species  seem  to 
be  more  essentially  diurnal  than  sombre-coloured  forms. 

When  the  meaning  and  purport  of  the  coloration  of 
mammals  first  began  to  receive  careful  attention  on  the 
part  of  naturalists,  there  was  a  tendency  to  classify  brilliant 
markings  like  those  of  the  African  bushbucks,  bongo,  and 
kudus  as  "  recognition  markings  " — that  is  to  say,  markings 
designed  to  enable  all  members  of  a  species  to  recognise 
with  facility  their  own  kind.  Animals  have,  however, 
other  modes  of  mutual  recognition  in  addition  to  colour; 
besides  which  different  species,  whether  they  go  about  in 
pairs,  in  small  family  parties,  or  in  herds,  keep,  as  a  rule, 
more  or  less  to  themselves,  and  are  in  no  danger  of  mis- 
taking other  species  for  their  own  kind.  Probably  among 
the  great  majority  of  mammals  the  only  "  recognition 
marks "  are  the  white  or  light-coloured  areas  on  the  tail 
or  hindquarters,  which  are  displayed  to  their  fullest  extent 
in  many  cases  when  the  members  of  a  party  or  herd  have 
to  "  bolt "  suddenly  to  covert.  In  some  species,  like  the 
rabbit  and  the  white-tailed  American  deer,  the  white  area 
is  restricted  to  the  under-side  of  the  tail  and  the  adjacent 
portions  of  the  buttocks,  and  in  such  cases  the  tail  is 
always  raised  when  in  flight,  so  as  to  expose  a  large  and 
conspicuous  blaze  of  white.  In  other  species,  such  as  the 
Japanese  deer  and  its  relatives  of  the  Asiatic  mainland,  or 
the  roe,  the  white  area  takes  the  form  of  a  patch  of  long 
hairs  on  the  rump,  which  are  erected  and  expanded  when 
the  animals  are  alarmed.  Probably  the  straw-coloured 
rump-patch  of  the  wapiti  and  red-deer  is  of  the  same 
nature,  but  as  these  animals  are  less  likely  to  miss  their 
leader  when  in  flight  than  is  the  case  with  smaller  species, 
the  "  recognition  mark  "  is  less  conspicuous. 

In    regard    to    spotted    deer    and     striped    antelopes,    it 


14  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

seems  probable,  as  has  been  suggested  by  Mr.  R.  I. 
Pocock  in  an  article  published  a  couple  of  years  ago  in 
Nature,  that  the  white  markings  belong  to  two  different 
categories  so  far  as  their  purpose  is  concerned.  In  many 
of  such  animals  not  only  is  the  under-surface  of  the  body 
white,  but  there  are  several  white  gorgets  on  the  throat 
and  white  spots  on  the  side  of  the  face  and  chin.  Now 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  such  white  areas  are  for  the 
purpose  of  counteracting  the  dark  shade  thrown  by  the 
body,  and  thus  rendering  the  animal  much  less  conspicuous 
when  seen  at  a  distance  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case. 
That  this  is  the  true  explanation  is  rendered  practically 
certain  by  the  circumstance  that  such  white  markings, 
especially  the  gorgets  on  the  throat,  persist  in  species 
which,  like  the  Indian  nilgai  and  the  American  prongbuck, 
have  lost  the  ancestral  stripes  and  spots.  In  neither  of 
the  two  species  referred  to,  it  may  be  well  to  observe,  are 
the  young  spotted  or  striped,  and  it  is  therefore  only 
from  analogy  that  we  speak  of  their  ancestors  being  thus 
coloured  ;  but  the  nilgai  is  so  closely  related  to  the  bush- 
bucks  and  kudus  that  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
assertion  is  justifiable.  Even,  however,  if  it  were  not  so, 
the  case  as  regards  the  purport  of  the  white  gorgets  and 
under-parts  remains  unaltered.  It  may  be  added  that  such 
white  patches  can  only  be  effectual  where  there  is  plenty 
of  light  to  throw  the  shadow  ;  and  this  is  in  accordance 
with  the  fact  that  kudu  and  chital  inhabit  less  dense 
forest  than  sambar. 

Having  indicated,  then,  the  special  purpose  of  the  white 
under-parts  and  throat-markings  of  deer  and  antelopes, 
we  may  consider  the  object  of  the  stripes  and  spots  char- 
acteristic of  certain  species  and  groups.  All  the  bushbucks, 
save  the  males  of  one  or  two  species,  together  with  their 


THE   COLORATION   OF   LARGE   ANIMALS         15 

near  relatives  the  bongo,  the  kudu,  and  the  elands,  are 
characterised,  as  a  rule,  by  having  the  whole  body  marked  by 
narrow  white  stripes,  which  are,  for  the  most  part,  vertical 
(although  in';  some  cases  they  form  a  kind  of  network) 
upon  a  fawn  or  rufous  ground.  And  these  animals,  as  is 
attested  by  the  large  size  of  their  ears,  are  chiefly  dwellers 
in  forest.  Directly,  however,  any  member  of  the  group  has 
left  the  forest  for  more  open  country,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Cape  eland  and  the  Cape  bushbuck,  the  stripes  more  or 
less  gradually  disappear.  Further,  those  species  which 
inhabit  the  densest  forest  have  their  colours  the  most 
brilliantly  developed,  as  is  well  exemplified  in  the  case  of 
the  lesser  and  the  greater  kudu,  the  former  of  which  is 
more  of  a  forest  animal  than  the  latter.  One  of  the 
most  brilliantly  coloured  of  all  is  the  bongo  of  the 
equatorial  forests. 

Clearly,  then,  narrow  vertical  white  stripes  on  a  fawn 
or  chestnut  ground,  which  we  have  reason  to  regard  as  a 
very  primitive  type  of  animal  coloration,  are  connected 
with  a  forest  life,  and  the  presumption  is  that  they  are 
of  a  protective  nature.  Confirmation  of  this  view — if  con- 
firmation be  needed — is  afforded  by  two  animals  belonging 
to  widely  different  groups — namely,  Grevy's  zebra  and  the 
Somali  giraffe.  The  former  of  these  animals  differs  from 
all  its  kindred  by  its  enormous  and  heavily  fringed  ears, 
and  these  proclaim  it  to  be  a  dweller  in  brushwood  or 
forest  rather  than  in  open  plains,  a  supposition  which 
receives  definite  confirmation  by  the  photographs  taken 
during  Lord  Delamere's  East  African  journey.  But 
Grevy's  zebra  likewise  differs  from  all  its  kindred  by  the 
extreme  narrowness  of  its  stripes,  white  stripes  alternating 
with  black  ones  of  the  same  width.  Here,  then,  narrow 
white  stripes  are  clearly  an  adaptation  to  a  forest  life.  And 


16  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

we  further  learn,  from  contrast  with  the  bushbucks,  that 
when  the  ground-colour  is  fawn  or  rufous  the  intervals 
between  the  white  stripes  must  be  large,  while  in  the  case 
of  a  black  ground  such  intervals  are  no  greater  than  the 
width  of  the  stripes.  Whether  such  modifications  of  the 
pattern  according  to  the  shade  of  the  ground-colour  produce 
the  same  effect  in  forest  or  brushwood,  can  be  learnt  only 
by  actual  observation,  and  here  again  we  must  look  to  the 
sportsman. 

As  regards  the  Somali  giraffe,  those  who  have  had  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  Lord  Delamere's  photographs  can 
scarcely  fail  to  notice  that  the  type  of  coloration  differs 
markedly  from  that  of  the  common  species,  while  the 
animal  itself  appears  to  be  found  in  much  more  jungly 
country  than  is  the  case  with  the  former.  In  place  of 
having  a  buff  ground-colour  blotched  with  large  irregular 
chocolate  patches,  the  Somali  giraffe  is  a  liver-coloured 
animal  marked  with  a  coarse  network  of  fine  white  lines, 
the  type  of  coloration  coming  very  close  to  that  of  some 
of  the  smaller  bushbucks.  Clearly  this  colouring  is  an 
adaptation  for  a  mode  of  life  not  very  different  from  that 
of  the  bushbucks,  whereas  the  coloration  of  the  ordinary 
giraffe  is  suited  to  an  animal  dwelling  in  open  plains 
dotted  here  and  there  with  tall  scattered  trees.  The  two 
types  of  coloration  are,  in  fact,  precisely  analogous  to 
those  of  Grevy's  zebra  as  compared  with  BurchelFs  zebra, 
the  one  being  a  dweller  in  brushwood  and  the  other  in 
open  country.  The  Somali  giraffe  has  not,  however,  ac- 
quired the  broad  ears  of  essentially  forest  animals  like  its 
cousin  the  okapi,  and  for  a  very  sufficient  reason.  The 
brushwood  amid  which  this  giraffe  is  commonly  found 
does  not  reach  more  than  half-way  up  its  neck,  as  is 
clearly  shown  in  the  photographs  already  alluded  to,  so 


Front  a  photograph  by  Lord  Delamere.] 

EAST  AFRICAN  GIRAFFES  IN  COVERT. 


[To  face  p.  16 


THE  COLORATION   OF  LARGE  ANIMALS         17 

that    ears    of    ordinary    size    suffice    for    the    creature's 
hearing. 

The  mention  of  the  okapi  recalls  the  fact  that  the  colora- 
tion of  the  upper  part  of  the  legs  and  hindquarters  takes 
the  form  of  narrow  black  and  white  stripes,  running,  how- 
ever, more  horizontally  than  vertically,  but  evidently 
conforming  to  the  characteristic  forest  type.  To  attempt 
to  discuss  why  the  coloration  of  the  rest  of  this  remarkable 
animal  is  uniform  would  be  premature  in  the  absence  of 
any  definite  information  with  regard  to  its  mode  of  life. 

From  the  foregoing  observations  it  seems  evident  that 
in  Africa,  and  in  that  country  alone  (for  there  are  no 
vertically  striped  ungulates  in  Asia),  there  are  two  distinct 
types  of  protective  coloration,  the  one  generally  associated 
with  large  ears,  for  animals  frequenting  forest  or  brush- 
wood, and  the  other  for  those  living  in  more  open  country. 
The  forest  type  takes  the  form  of  white  stripes,  either  upon 
a  fawn  or  chestnut  or  upon  a  black  ground  (the  dark 
intervals  being  broad  in  the  former  case  and  narrow  in 
the  latter),  or  of  a  white  network  upon  a  liver-coloured 
ground.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  plain  type  we  have 
either  an  alternation  of  broad  dark  and  light  vertical 
stripes  or  dark  blotches  upon  a  buff  ground.  Both  forms 
of  the  latter  type  have  been  definitely  stated  to  render  the 
animals  in  which  they  occur  more  or  less  inconspicuous 
at  comparatively  short  distances.  But,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  there  are  absolutely  no  observations  to  indicate  the 
degree  of  invisibility  in  the  wild  state  of  the  two  modi- 
fications of  the  forest  type.  Probably,  however,  the 
alternations  of  dark  and  light  vertical  stripes  harmonise 
with  the  vertical  lines  formed  by  stems  of  underwood  and 
the  spaces  between  them. 

We  also  want  to  know  whether  either  or  both  of  these 

2 


1 8  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

types  of  apparently  protective  coloration  are  for  their  special 
purpose  as  good  as  (or  better  than)  a  uniform  colora- 
tion, or  under  what  circumstances,  if  any,  the  latter  is 
superior  to  the  former.  For,  curiously  enough,  both  the 
forest  and  the  plain  type  of  coloration  appear  to  have 
been  transformed,  in  some  instances,  into  a  uniformly 
coloured  coat.  As  regards  the  plain  type,  the  now  extinct 
quagga  shows  the  partial  loss  of  the  stripes,  which  have 
completely  disappeared  from  the  wild  asses  of  Northern 
Africa.  Very  remarkable  is  the  circumstance  that  from  a 
fully  striped  animal  like  the  so-called  Grant's  zebra  of 
Abyssinia  there  is  a  complete  graduation  to  the  typical 
Burchell's  zebra  of  the  Transvaal,  in  which  the  stripes  have 
disappeared  from  the  legs,  and  the  dark  stripes  are  inter- 
calated with  paler  "  shadow  stripes."  One  step  from  this 
animal  and  we  reach  the  quagga,  which,  be  it  noted,  in- 
habited the  same  country  as  the  uniformly  coloured  Cape 
eland.  Evidently  in  the  Cape  district  both  the  forest  and 
the  plain  types  of  striping  were  unsuitable  and  tended  to 
disappear.  In  the  North  African  wild  asses  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  striping  is  complete.  Before  we  can  attempt 
to  explain  this  it  is  necessary  to  know  whether  a  Grant's 
zebra  and  a  wild  ass  are  equally  inconspicuous  in  their 
own  particular  habitats,  and  whether  any  difference  in  this 
respect  would  be  noticeable  if  the  one  were  transported  to 
the  habitat  of  the  other. 

An  instance  of  the  replacement  of  the  forest  type  of 
striping  by  a  uniform  coat  (otherwise  than  in  the  case  of 
a  desert-dwelling  species)  is  afforded  among  the  bushbucks 
by  the  males  of  the  nyala,  which  have  long,  shaggy  brown 
coats  with  but  very  indistinct  traces  of  striping.  Is  this 
dark  coat  a  better  protection  than  the  brilliantly  striped 
one  of  the  female,  or  is  it  assumed  because  the  males 


THE  COLORATION   OF   LARGE  ANIMALS         19 

have  (on  account  of  their  horns)  no  longer  any  need  of 
protection  ?  On  the  other  hand,  is  it  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
bucks  keep  more  to  the  heart  of  the  forest,  and  are  more 
nocturnal  than  their  partners  ? 

Another  phase  of  coloration  for  the  development  of 
which  no  satisfactory  reason  can  be  assigned  is  presented 
by  the  males  of  certain  ruminants,  such  as  the  Indian 
blackbuck,  the  white-eared  kob,  and  Mrs.  Gray's  kob  of 
the  White  Nile,  and  the  banting,  or  wild  ox,  of  Java.  In 
all  these  four  species  (the  first  three  of  which  are  antelopes) 
the  adult  males  exchange  the  foxy  red  coat  of  the  younger 
members  of  their  own  sex  and  of  the  females  at  all  ages 
for  a  sable  livery  relieved  by  larger  or  smaller  white 
areas.  Clearly  this  coloration,  in  place  of  being  protec- 
tive, renders  the  animals  in  which  it  occurs  conspicuous. 
The  only  suggestion  which  seems  at  all  reasonable  is  that 
it  must  either  be  a  "  warning  colour "  or  one  adapted  to 
attract  females  towards  the  leader  of  the  herd.  If  it  come 
under  the  former  category,  it  has  apparently  been  developed 
in  order  to  deter  other  animals  from  attacking  the  leaders 
of  the  herd,  on  account  of  their  prowess  in  fight.  That 
such  an  immunity  would  be  an  advantage  to  the  individuals 
in  question  cannot  be  doubted ;  and  possibly  it  receives 
support  from  the  circumstance  referred  to  in  the  next 
paragraph. 

Although  both  sexes  of  the  banting  carry  horns,  the 
females  of  the  aforesaid  three  species  of  antelope  are 
hornless.  In  certain  species,  such  as  the  sable  antelope 
of  Africa  and  the  gaur  (the  miscalled  bison)  of  India,  in 
which  both  sexes  are  horned,  the  adult  females  as  well 
as  the  males  have  assumed  a  blackish  coat;  and,  so  far 
as  it  goes,  this  phase  is  in  favour  of  the  view  that  the 
acquisition  of  a  sable  livery  by  certain  species  is  for  the 


20  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

purpose  of  warning  off  foes,  both  sexes  in  the  above 
instances  having  formidable  weapons  of  offence  and  defence, 
and  being  thus  perfectly  capable  of  taking  care  of  themselves. 

Probably  the  black  hue  of  the  Asiatic  buffaloes  and  of 
the  typical  race  of  their  African  relatives  was  originally 
developed  in  the  same  manner  and  for  the  same  purpose 
as  in  the  case  of  the  sable  antelope.  It  may,  however, 
now  have  acquired  a  higher  significance,  and  be  connected 
with  the  general  prevalence  of  blackness  among  large  hoofed 
mammals,  such  as  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  hippopotamuses, 
buffaloes,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  tapirs.  Among  such 
animals  it  will  not  fail  to  be  noticed  that  in  many  instances 
both  sexes  are  armed  with  either  horns  or  tusks ;  and 
that  where  such  weapons  have  been  discarded  the  animals 
are  sufficiently  protected  either  by  their  huge  bodily  bulk 
or  by  the  nature  of  their  haunts.  Although  we  have  the 
testimony  of  many  sportsmen  as  to  the  difficulty  of  seeing 
an  Indian  elephant,  even  at  close  quarters,  when  in  thick 
covert,  we  have  yet  to  learn  whether  the  prevalence  of  a 
black  or  dark  grey  skin  among  so  many  of  the  larger 
mammals  is  or  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  protection.  But 
since  large  herds  of  animals  thus  coloured  are  frequently 
to  be  met  with  in  open  country,  it  has  probably  been 
developed  for  some  other  purpose,  although  what  this  may 
be  it  is  difficult  even  to  conjecture. 

Returning  once  more  to  deer,  and  taking  first  the  case 
of  the  fallow-deer,  which  (with  the  exception  of  the  dark 
race)  is  spotted  in  summer  and  uniformly  coloured  in  winter, 
there  seems  no  doubt  that  the  dappled  summer  coat  is 
for  the  purpose  of  harmonising  with  the  chequered  shade 
cast  by  the  leafy  boughs  of  the  trees  under  which  the 
animals  are  wont  to  repose.  This  harmony  has  doubtless 
been  noticed  by  many  of  my  readers,  and  is  well  expressed 


THE   COLORATION   OF   LARGE   ANIMALS         21 

in  the  following  passage  from  Dr.  L.  Robinson's  "Wild 
Traits  in  Tame  Animals/'  which  refers  to  a  scene  in 
Greenwich  Park  : — 

"  The  "dappled  fallow-deer  were  grazing  among  the 
chestnut-trees  or  lying  down  upon  the  soft  grass.  I  sat 
down  on  a  seat  to  watch  them,  determined,  if  possible, 
to  learn  something  fresh  from  them  before  I  moved  from 
the  spot.  One  could  not  help  noticing  how  remarkably 
their  mottled  skins,  angular  outlines,  and  branching  horns 
fitted  them  for  concealment  in  the  glades  of  the  forest. 
Even  here,  where  the  surroundings  were  to  a  large  extent 
artificial,  every  now  and  then  the  eye  would  suddenly 
chance  upon  a  deer  resting  among  the  chequered  shadows, 
which  was  so  inconspicuous  that  it  had  previously  escaped 
notice." 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  object  of  the  dappled  coat  is  to 
harmonise  with  the  splashes  of  sunlight  and  shade  beneath 
forest  trees  in  summer,  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  in  tem- 
perate latitudes  such  a  type  of  coloration  would  be  quite  out 
of  place  in  winter,  when  the  forest  trees  have  shed  their 
leaves.  Accordingly  the  fallow-deer  exchanges  its  dappled 
summer  livery  for  a  uniform  coat  of  fawn  more  in  harmony 
with  the  sombre  colour  prevalent  in  nature  generally  during 
the  northern  winter.  A  precisely  similar  change  takes  place 
in  the  Japanese  deer  and  its  relative,  the  Peking  deer  of 
Manchuria,  both  of  which  have  bright  chestnut  coats  dappled 
with  large  white  spots  in  summer,  while  in  winter  they 
are  clothed  in  sombre  brown.  It  is,  moreover,  noticeable 
that  in  the  Peking  deer  the  summer  coat  is  exchanged 
for  the  winter  dress  comparatively  early  in  the  season — 
doubtless  in  correlation  with  the  early  advent  of  winter 
in  its  native  habitat. 

The  Japanese  and   Peking  deer  have,  however,  a  repre- 


22  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

sentative  in  the  island  of  Formosa,  which  lies  just  on  the 
northern  tropic.  Now,  this  Formosan  deer — or  Formosan 
sika,  as  it  is  properly  called — differs  from  its  northern 
relatives  by  retaining  its  spots  more  or  less  distinctly 
throughout  the  winter — obviously  in  correlation  with  its 
southern  domicile,  where  perpetual  summer  reigns. 

But,  as  being  probably  descended  from  northern  repre- 
sentatives of  the  group,  the  Formosan  sika  has  not  been 
able  to  get  entirely  rid  of  the  change  from  a  spotted  to 
a  uniformly  coloured  coat.  On  the  other  hand,  the  chital, 
or  spotted  deer  of  India,  which  is  essentially  a  tropical 
or  subtropical  form,  is  just  as  brilliantly  coloured  and  as 
fully  spotted  in  winter  as  in  summer. 

Regarding  the  haunts  of  the  chital,  Dr.  Blanford,  in  "  The 
Fauna  of  British  India — Mammals,"  writes  as  follows  : — 

"The  especial  habitat  of  this  deer,  perhaps  the  most 
beautiful  in  form  and  coloration  of  the  whole  family,  is 
amongst  bushes  and  trees  near  water  and  in  bamboo  jungle. 
.  .  .  Many  of  its  favourite  haunts  are  in  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  wild  scenery  of  the  Indian  plains  and  lower  hills, 
on  the  margins  of  rippling  streams  with  their  banks  over- 
grown by  lofty  trees,  or  in  the  grassy  glades  that  open 
out  amidst  the  exquisite  foliage  of  bamboo  clumps.  Spotted 
deer  are  thoroughly  gregarious,  and  associate  at  all  times 
of  the  year  in  herds,  sometimes  of  several  hundreds.  They 
are  less  nocturnal  than  sambar,  and  may  be  found  feeding 
for  three  or  four  hours  after  sunrise,  and  again  in  the 
afternoon  for  an  hour  or  two  before  sunset.  They  generally 
drink  between  eight  and  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
time  varying  with  the  season  of  the  year,  and  repose  during 
the  day  in  deep  shade." 

From  this  account  it  is  clear  that  the  habits  and  haunts 
(allowing  for  the  difference  between  Indian  and  English 


THE  COLORATION   OF   LARGE   ANIMALS         23 

foliage  and  scenery)  of  the  chital  are  practically  the  same 
as  those  of  the  fallow-deer  in  summer.  Both  species  fre- 
quent forest  glades  in  large  herds  during  the  daytime,  and 
seek  repose  under  the  shade  of  spreading  trees.  It  may 
be  added  that  another  species  of  spotted  deer  inhabiting 
the  tropics — namely,  the  Philippine  spotted  deer — resembles 
the  chital  in  retaining  its  dappled  livery  at  all  seasons. 

From  these  facts  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  among  the 
members  of  the  deer  tribe  a  white-spotted  coat  is  a  pro- 
tective adaptation  to  a  diurnal  life  among  the  glades  of 
leafy  woods.  When  such  woods,  as  in  the  tropics,  retain 
their  foliage  throughout  the  year,  the  deer  likewise  retain 
their  spots.  On  the  other  hand,  when,  as  in  the  northern 
temperate  zone,  the  trees  become  bare  and  leafless  in  winter, 
the  deer  assume  a  dull-coloured  uniform  livery  in  harmony 
with  the  sombre  conditions  of  their  inanimate  surroundings. 

One  other  point  in  connection  with  the  above-mentioned 
species  of  spotted  deer  deserves  brief  mention.  All  of 
them,  whether  spotted  in  summer  only  or  throughout  the 
year,  have  "  recognition  marks  "  on  their  hindquarters.  In 
the  fallow-deer  and  chital  these  take  the  form  of  a  white 
under-surface  to  the  tail  and  white  on  the  portion  of  the 
buttocks  against  which  it  rests,  while  in  the  sikas  there  is 
a  patch  of  extensile  white  hairs  on  the  buttocks.  When 
the  tail  is  raised  in  flight,  as  is  always  the  case,  a  large 
white  "  blaze "  is  displayed,  which  serves  not  only  to 
indicate  the  direction  in  which  to  fly,  but  likewise  as  a 
danger  signal  to  the  entire  herd.  Evidently  these  strongly 
pronounced  "recognition  marks,"  which  are  not  developed 
in  nocturnal  and  thicket-haunting  deer  of  the  sambar  type, 
are  correlated  with  the  habit  of  frequenting  the  outskirts 
or  glades  of  forests  during  daylight  in  large  herds. 

The  various  races  of  the  sambar  which  have  exchanged 


24  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  primitive  spotted  coloration  of  the  chital  for  a  dull 
brown  and  shaggy  coat  are  proclaimed  to  be  essentially 
animals  of  the  thick  forest  by  the  large  size  of  their  ears, 
although  this  characteristic  is  more  strongly  madted  in  the 
larger  than  in  the  smaller  races  of  the  group.  Dr.  Blanford's 
account  of  the  habits  of  the  Indian  sambar  runs  as  follows: — 

"This  is  the  woodland  deer  of  South-Eastern  Asia 
generally,  and  is  more  widely  and  generally  distributed 
than  any  other  species.  ...  It  comes  out  on  the  grass 
slopes  when  such  exist,  as  in  the  Nilgiris  and  other  hill- 
ranges,  to  graze,  but  always  takes  refuge  in  the  woods. 
It  is  but  rarely  found  associating  in  any  numbers;  both 
stags  and  hinds  are  often  found  singly,  but  small  herds 
of  four  or  five  to  a  dozen  in  number  are  commonly  met 
with.  Its  habits  are  nocturnal;  it  may  be  seen  feeding 
in  the  morning  and  evening,  but  it  grazes  chiefly  at  night, 
and  at  that  time  often  visits  small  patches  of  cultivation 
in  the  half-cleared  tracts,  returning  for  the  day  to  wilder 
parts,  and  often  ascending  hills  to  make  a  lair  in  grass 
amongst  trees,  where  it  generally  selects  a  spot  well  shaded 
from  the  sun's  rays." 

Contrasting  this  with  the  account  given  above  of  the 
mode  of  life  of  the  chital,  the  reason  of  the  colour  of 
the  sambar  will  be  apparent.  It  is  essentially  a  deer  of 
the  thickets,  nocturnal  and  more  or  less  solitary  in  habits, 
and  shunning  the  sunlit  glades.  Hence  not  only  is  the 
coat  uniformly  dusky  brown,  but  the  white  "  recognition 
marks"  on  the  rump,  so  useful  in  the  case  of  the  fallow- 
deer  and  the  sikas,  are  entirely  wanting. 

As  regards  the  change  from  a  grey  fawn-colour  in  summer 
to  a  foxy  red  in  winter  exhibited  by  many  kinds  of  deer 
— most  markedly  by  the  American  white-tail  and  the 
European  roe,  and,  in  a  somewhat  less  degree,  by  the 


THE   COLORATION   OF   LARGE   ANIMALS         25 

red-deer — it  seems  to  be  certainly  analogous  to  the  change 
from  a  spotted  to  a  uniform  coat  in  the  Japanese  and  fallow- 
deer,  and  must  therefore  be  for  the  purpose  of  protection. 
Prima  facie^  it  might  have  been  thought  that  the  winter 
dress  would  be  red,  since  this  tint  would  apparently  har- 
monise well  with  the  russet  hue  of  fallen  leaves  and  dead 
bracken.  The  tone  of  the  summer  dress  is,  however,  very 
similar  to  the  ground-colour  of  the  coat  of  the  Peking  and 
Japanese  deer  at  the  same  season,  although  we  have  yet 
to  learn  why  a  uniformly  red  tint  is  more  advantageous 
in  the  case  of  the  roe  and  the  white-tail  than  a  spotted 
dress.  Possibly  it  may  be  owing  to  the  more  open  nature 
of  the  country  frequented  by  these  and  other  species  in 
which  this  type  of  coloration  prevails. 

That  the  change  in  the  roe,  the  red-deer,  and  the  white- 
tailed  deer  from  red  in  summer  to  grey  in  winter  is 
analogous  to  the  change  from  a  spotted  to  a  uniform  coat 
in  the  Peking  deer  and  the  fallow-deer,  is  demonstrated 
not  only  by  the  nature  of  the  colour  itself,  but  more 
emphatically  by  the  circumstance  that  in  tropical  and 
subtropical  countries  red-coated  deer,  such  as  the  Indian 
muntjac  and  swamp-deer,  or  barasingha,  retain  their  colour  • 
throughout  the  year.  A  similar  condition  is  noticeable 
in  the  case  of  the  small  tropical  representatives  of  the 
Virginian  white-tailed  deer,  most  or  all  of  which  do  not 
change  their  colour  with  the  season.  In  the  last-men- 
tioned instance  it  appears,  indeed,  that  the  coat  is  brownish 
or  greyish,  instead  of  red  ;  but  this  may  be  connected  with 
the  tendency  to  melanism,  so  often  noticeable  in  the  case 
of  animals  inhabiting  moist  tropical  forests.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  change  from  a  red 
summer  coat  to  a  grey  winter  dress  in  species  like  the 
white-tail  and  the  roe  is  for  the  purpose  of  protection, 


26  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

and  is  correlated  with  the  presence  of  foliage  on  the  trees 
at  the  one  season  and  its  absence  at  the  other.  It  may 
be  added  that  the  white-tail  and  the  muntjac  have  the 
under-side  of  the  tail  and  the  inner  surfaces  of  the  buttocks 
white,  and  thus  display  a  conspicuous  patch  when  running 
to  covert  with  the  tail  elevated.  Somewhat  curiously,  the 
roe  generally  develops  a  white  rump-patch  only  when  in 
the  grey  winter  dress. 

Although  the  reason  for  many  details  remains  to  be 
worked  out — and  for  this  naturalists  must  rely  on  the  good 
offices  of  sportsmen — I  venture  to  think  that  the  foregoing 
theory  affords  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  most  of  the 
different  types  of  coloration  prevailing  among  the  deer. 
Probably  the  coloration  of  the  chital — spotted  at  all  seasons 
— was  the  primitive  type.  From  this  was  evolved  the 
seasonal  change  characteristic  of  the  fallow  and  Peking 
deer,  and  from  this,  again,  the  absence  of  spots  at  all 
seasons  distinctive  of  the  white-tail  and  roe.  A  further 
specialisation  is  displayed  in  the  tropics  by  the  sambar 
in  one  direction  and  the  muntjac  and  barasingha  in  the 
other.  If  these  conclusions  be  well  founded,  it  is  evident 
that  deer  were  originally  a  tropical  group.  It  should  be 
mentioned  that  the  Indian  hog-deer,  which  develops  spots 
in  summer,  is  an  exception  to  the  rule  that  tropical  deer, 
if  spotted  at  all,  retain  their  markings  all  the  year. 

The  foregoing  summary  of  the  extent  of  our  knowledge 
— or,  rather,  of  the  depth  of  our  ignorance — with  regard 
to  the  meaning  and  object  of  the  different  types  of  colora- 
tion prevalent  among  the  larger  mammals  may,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  direct  the  attention  of  travellers  and  sportsmen  to 
an  extremely  interesting,  but  much  neglected,  subject,  and 
thus  lead  to  a  real  advance  being  made  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  facts. 


SPOTS  AND  STRIPES  IN  MAMMALS 

SUCH  of  my  readers  as  have  considered  the  subject  at 
all  may  be  aware  that  in  those  animals  whose  fur  is 
ornamented  with  dark  or  light  markings,  these  markings 
generally  take  the  form  either  of  longitudinal  or  transverse 
bands,  or  of  spots  ;  the  latter  being  frequently  arranged  in 
more  or  less  distinctly  defined  longitudinal  lines,  but  never 
in  transverse  bands.  Moreover,  these  markings,  especially 
in  the  case  of  stripes  and  bands,  are  generally  most  de- 
veloped on  the  upper  surface  of  the  body,  although  spots 
may  be  equally  present  on  both  the  upper  and  the  lower 
surfaces  of  the  body.  Many  mammals,  again,  whether  they 
be  spotted  or  whether  they  be  striped,  have  their  tails 
marked  by  dark  rings  on  a  light  ground ;  but  this  feature 
is  also  present  in  others  in  which  the  colour  of  the  body 
is  of  a  uniform  tint.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed 
that  there  is  any  sharply  defined  distinction  between  spotted 
and  striped  mammals,  many  of  the  civets,  as  well  as  some 
of  the  cats,  having  markings  intermediate  between  true 
spots  and  stripes.  Spots,  again,  are  somewhat  variable  in 
configuration,  some  animals,  like  the  hunting-leopard,  having 
solid  circular  dark  spots,  while  in  others,  such  as  the 
leopard  and  jaguar,  they  assume  the  form  of  dark  rings 
enclosing  a  light  centre.  In  other  cases,  as  in  the  giraffe, 
the  spots  are  enlarged  so  as  to  form  large  and  more  or 
less  quadrangular  blotches. 

27 


28  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

A  survey  of  a  museum  or  a  menagerie  will  likewise 
show  that  spots  and  stripes  are  by  no  means  equally 
prevalent  in  all  groups  of  mammals.  In  the  apes,  monkeys, 
marmosets,  and  lemurs,  for  instance,  they  never  occur ;  and 
when  these  animals  are  diversely  coloured,  the  coloration 
takes  the  form  of  patches  symmetrically  disposed  on  the 
two  sides  of  the  body,  but  otherwise  not  following  any 
very  clearly  defined  mode  of  arrangement.  Then,  again, 
in  the  hoofed  mammals,  or  ungulates,  many  species  are 
more  or  less  uniformly  coloured,  although  the  zebras  are 
notable  instances  of  transversely  striped  animals,  while  the 
giraffe  is  an  equally  notable  instance  of  the  blotched  type 
of  coloration.  Among  the  even-toed  (Artiodactyle)  sub- 
division of  this  order  it  may  be  also  noticed  that  while  in 
the  more  specialised  forms,  such  as  wild  cattle  and  sheep, 
the  coloration  is  more  or  less  uniform,  many  of  the 
antelopes  show  white  transverse  stripes  on  a  dark  ground. 
Dark  transverse  stripes  are,  however,  known  only  in  the 
case  of  the  little  zebra-antelope  (Cephalophus  doriae)  of 
Western  Africa,  and  the  gnus ;  while,  although  a  lateral 
dark  flank-stripe  is  present  in  some  antelopes,  and  in  the 
gazelles,  none  of  these  animals  have  the  whole  body  marked 
by  longitudinal  dark  stripes.  In  the  case  of  the  deer  it 
has  been  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article  that  certain 
species,  like  the  fallow-deer  and  the  Indian  spotted  deer, 
are  marked  with  longitudinal  rows  of  white  spots  at  all 
ages ;  while  in  the  case  of  other  species  it  will  be  found 
that  the  young  are  similarly  marked,  whereas  the  adults 
are  uniformly  coloured.  A  similar  state  of  things  occurs 
among  wild  pigs,  and  also  in  the  tapirs,  from  which  we 
are  naturally  led  to  infer  that  in  this  group  of  mammals, 
at  least,  a  spotted  or  striped  type  of  coloration  is  the 
original  or  generalised  condition,  while  a  uniformly  coloured 


SPOTS   AND   STRIPES   IN   MAMMALS  29 

coat  is  an  acquired  or  specialised  feature.     And  the  same 
holds  good   for  other  groups. 

Turning  to  the  carnivorous  mammals,  we  find  that  in 
many  families,  more  especially  the  cats,  hyaenas,  and  civets, 
stripes  and  spots  are  far  more  generally  present  than 
a  uniform  coloration  ;  although  some  groups,  such  as  the 
bears,  form  a  marked  exception  to  this  rule,  the  majority  of 
the  species  being  uniformly  coloured,  while  none  are  striped 
or  spotted.  In  some  species  of  the  weasel  family — notably 
the  badgers — it  may  be  also  noticed  that  while  the  sides 
of  the  head  are  marked  by  longitudinal  dark  and  light 
stripes,  the  remainder  of  the  body  is  uniformly  coloured. 
And  it  may  be  mentioned  here  that  many  animals,  such  as 
donkeys  and  dun-coloured  horses,  retain  a  longitudinal  dark 
stripe  down  the  back,  frequently  accompanied  by  dark  trans- 
verse bars  on  the  limbs,  while  a  uniform  coloration  prevails 
elsewhere. 

In  the  gnawing  mammals,  or  rodents,  although  many 
species  are  uniformly  coloured,  stripes  and  spots  are  pre- 
valent ;  and  a  survey  of  the  collection  of  these  animals  in  a 
good  museum  will  show  that,  whether  the  pattern  take  the 
form  of  stripes  or  of  spots,  the  arrangement  is  invariably 
longitudinal  and  never  transverse.  Indeed,  it  may  be 
observed  that  when  spots  are  present,  these  are  invariably 
light-coloured  on  a  darker  ground.  Although  in  many 
cases  the  longitudinal  stripes  occupy  the  whole  or  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  upper  surface,  in  some  of  the 
squirrels  they  are  reduced  to  a  dark  and  light  stripe,  or 
even  a  single  light  stripe  on  each  flank,  this  remarkable 
type  of  coloration  recalling  the  "speculum"  on  the  wing 
of  a  duck. 

I  might  extend  this  survey  to  other  orders  of  mammals, 
but  sufficient  has  been  said  to  indicate  the  variability  of 


30  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  prevalent  type  of  coloration  in  different  groups,  and 
I  accordingly  proceed  to  give  a  list  of  some  more  or  less 
well-known  mammals  arranged  according  to  the  plan  of 
their  markings. 

1.  Mammals  with  dark  longitudinal  stripes. — Striped  mon- 
gooses  (Galidictis)    of   Madagascar,    in    one   of    which    the 
stripes  are  very  narrow  and  close,  while  in  the  other  they 
are    broader   and   more   widely   separated ;    these    animals 
belonging    to   the    civet    family.      The    three-striped  palm- 
civet  (Arctogale)  ;  the  genet,  the  markings  here  tending  to 
break  up  into  spots  ;  the  three-striped  opossum ;  the  palm- 
squirrel,  and  chipmunks  (Tamias). 

In  all  the  above  the  stripes  are  dark  upon  a  greyish 
ground,  •  but  in  the  following  they  take  the  form  of  black 
and  white  stripes,  the  white  area  being  generally  the 
larger ;  and  it  may  be  noted  that  all  belong  to  the  weasel 
family.  They  include  the  skunks,  the  South  African  weasel 
(Poectlogale),  and  the  Cape  polecat  (Ictonyx)  ;  while  similar 
markings  obtain  on  the  head  of  the  badger. 

2.  Mammals   with    dark    spots. — These   may  be    divided 
into    several     sub-groups,   according   to   the    form    of    the 
spots.     Those  in  which  the  spots  are   small,  more  or  less 
nearly  circular,  and  solid,  include  the  hunting-leopard,  the 
tiger-cat,    serval,  lynx,  spotted  hyaena,    large-spotted  civet 
(Viverra  megaspila),  the  African  linsang  (Poland),  and  the 
young  of  the  puma.     The  blotched  genet  (Genetta  tigrind) 
forms   a    transition  to   blotches.      Some   of  the  civets  are 
more  or  less  distinctly  spotted,  in  others   the  coloration  is 
intermediate  between  spots  and  longitudinal  stripes. 

As  species  in  which  the  spots  are  enlarged  to  form  more 
or  less  quadrangular  blotches,  we  may  cite  the  common 
giraffe  and  those  Oriental  civets  known  as  linsangs. 

By  a  splitting-up  of  a  certain  spot  into  a   more  or  less 


SPOTS   AND   STRIPES   IN   MAMMALS  31 

complete  ring  of  smaller  ones,  we  have  the  rosette-like  type 
of  ornamentation,  as  exemplified  in  the  leopard,  the  snow- 
leopard,  and  the  jaguar.  In  the  two  former  the  ring 
encloses  a  uniform  light  area ;  but  in  the  latter  the  central 
area  generally  carries  two  or  more  dark  spots.  A  further 
development  of  the  ring  leads  to  the  so-called  clouded  type, 
as  displayed  by  the  Oriental  clouded  leopard  and  marbled 
cat,  and  the  American  ocelot.  Here  the  ring  becomes  en- 
larged into  a  large  squarish  or  oblong  area,  enclosing  an 
area  of  darker  hue  than  the  general  ground-colour  of  the 
fur,  and  bordered  by  a  narrow  black  line;  the  black  line 
in  the  two  former  species  being,  however,  confined  to  the 
hinder  half  of  the  cloudings. 

3.  Mammals  with  dark  transverse  stripes. — Tiger,  young 
lions,  wild  cat,  striped  hyaena,  aard-wolf  (Proteles),  banded 
civets   (Hemigale),  banded    mongoose   (Crossarchus),  zebra- 
antelope,    gnus,   zebras,    thylacine,   and   the  water-opossum 
(Chironectes).     Among  these   it  may   be   noted   that  in  the 
zebras    the    stripes    on   the  hindquarters    have   a   more   or 
less   marked   longitudinal    direction ;    and   whereas   in    the 
mountain  zebra  and  Gravy's  zebra    they  consist  of  simple 
dark  bands  on  a  light  ground,  in  some  forms  of  Burchell's 
zebra  the  light  areas  between  the  dark  stripes  are  traversed 
by  an  intermediate  stripe  of  somewhat  darker  hue  than  the 
ground-colour. 

4.  Mammals   with    white   spots    arranged  in    longitudinal 
lines. — Fallow-deer  and  Indian  spotted  deer,  young  tapirs; 
the  paca  (Coelogenys)  among  the  rodents ;  and  the  dasyures 
among  the  marsupials.     Both  in  young  tapirs  and  the  paca 
the   spots   tend    to   coalesce   into   more    or    less    complete 
longitudinal  stripes. 

5.  Mammals    with    white    transverse    bands. — The   kudu, 
eland,  bongo  (Boocercus  euryceros),  and  harnessed  antelope 


32  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

* 

(Tragelaphus  scriptus)  among  the  antelopes,  and  Gunn's 
bandicoot  (Perameles  gunni)  and  the  banded  ant-eater 
(Myrmecobius)  among  the  marsupials.  In  the  harnessed 
antelope  spots  occur  as  well  as  stripes. 

Many  other  species  might  be  incorporated  in  these  lists, 
but  the  foregoing  instances  are  sufficient  to  show  that  no 
one  type  of  coloration  is  confined  to  any  particular  group, 
although  it  may  be  much  more  common  in  one  assemblage 
of  animals  than  in  another. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  reduce  the  colora- 
tion of  animals  to  some  general  law,  and  among  these  one 
of  the  most  notable  was  published  some  years  ago  by 
Prof.  Eimer,  of  Tubingen,  who  based  his  conclusions  on  a 
comprehensive  study  of  vertebrates  in  general.  As  the 
result  of  his  investigations,  this  observer  declared  that  the 
following  laws  might  be  laid  down  in  regard  to  colour- 
markings  of  animals  in  general.  Firstly,  the  primitive 
type  of  coloration  took  the  form  of  longitudinal  stripes. 
Secondly,  these  stripes  broke  up  into  spots,  retaining  in 
many  cases  a  more  or  less  distinct  longitudinal  arrange- 
ment. Thirdly,  the  spots  again  coalesced,  but  this  time 
into  transverse  stripes.  And  fourthly,  all  markings  dis- 
appeared, so  as  to  produce  a  uniform  coloration  of  the 
whole  coat.  As  a  further  development  of  this  theory,  it 
was  added  that  the  more  specialised  features  were  assumed 
in  many  cases  more  completely  by  the  male  than  the  female, 
while  the  primitive  coloration  often  persists  in  the  young. 
It  was  also  stated  that  the  primitive  longitudinal  stripes 
frequently  persist  on  the  middle  of  the  back,  and  likewise 
on  the  crown  and  sides  of  the  face,  examples  of  the  latter 
survival  being  shown  by  the  head-  and  face-stripes  of 
many  spotted  cats,  and  the  dark  and  light  streaks  on  the 
sides  of  the  face  of  the  badger. 


SPOTS   AND   STRIPES   IN   MAMMALS  33 

Whether  these  laws  hold  good  for  other  groups  of  ver- 
tebrates, it  is  not  within  the  scope  of  the  present  article 
to  inquire,  and  attention  will  accordingly  be  concentrated 
on  mammals.  '  If  they  be  true,  we  should,  primd  facie, 
expect  to  find  a  large  number  of  longitudinally  striped 
forms  among  the  lower  members  of  the  class ;  while  those 
of  intermediate  grades  of  evolution  would  be  spotted,  and 
the  higher  types  either  transversely  striped  or  uniformly 
coloured.  This,  however,  could  only  be  the  case,  as  a 
whole,  if  all  mammals  formed  one  regularly  ascending 
series;  whereas,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  form  a  number 
of  divergent  branches,  each  containing  specialised  and 
generalised  forms.  The  inquiry  is  thus  rendered  one  of 
extreme  complexity,  although  there  ought,  if  the  theory 
were  true  in  its  entirety,  to  be  a  considerable  number  of 
longitudinally  striped  species  among  the  lowest  groups  of 
all.  Unfortunately,  palaeontology,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  can  afford  us  no  aid,  which  very  materially  adds  to 
the  difficulty.  It  may  be  added  that  in  Prof.  Eimer's 
scheme  no  distinction  is  drawn  between  light  and  dark 
markings — that  is  to  say,  between  the  total  disappearance 
of  pigment  and  an  ultra-development  of  the  same — and 
it  is  obvious  that  this  may  be  of  such  prime  import- 
ance that  these  two  types  of  coloration  may  have  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  one  another.  Nevertheless,  we 
may  provisionally  consider  light  and  dark  stripes  and 
light  and  dark  spots  as  respectively  equivalent  to  one 
another. 

With  regard  to  uniformly  coloured  animals,  there  can  be 
no  question  as  to  the  truth  of  the  theory,  since  the  young 
of  so  many  animals,  such  as  lions,  pumas,  deer,  pigs  and 
tapirs  show  more  or  less  distinct  striped  or  spotted  mark- 
ings, which  disappear  more  or  less  completely  in  the  adult. 

3 


34  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

The  occurrence  of  bands  on  the  legs  and  sometimes  on 
the  shoulders  of  mules  and  dun-coloured  horses,  and  like- 
wise the  presence  of  dark  bars  on  the  limbs  of  otherwise 
uniformly  coloured  species  of  cats,  like  the  Egyptian  cat 
and  the  bay  cat,  are  further  proofs  of  the  same  law. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  in  the  young  of  pigs — and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  those  of  tapirs — the  markings  take  the  form 
of  longitudinal  stripes,  whereas  in  the  more  specialised 
deer,  whether  young  or  old,  they  are  in  the  shape  of  spots 
arranged  in  more  or  less  well-defined  lines,  is,  so  far  as  it 
goes,  a  confirmation  of  the  theory  that  spots  are  newer 
than  stripes.  And  the  presence  of  transverse  stripes  in 
the  still  more  highly  specialised  antelopes  tends  to  support 
the  derivation  of  this  type  of  marking  from  spots,  es- 
pecially if  it  be  remembered  that  the  harnessed  antelopes 
are  partly  spotted.  Still,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
these  instances  apply  only  to  light  markings,  which,  as 
already  stated,  may  have  a  totally  different  origin  from 
dark  ones. 

There  are,  however,  apparently  insuperable  difficulties  as 
regards  longitudinal  and  transverse  striping  in  mammals. 
In  the  first  place,  instead  of  finding  a  number  of  the 
polyprotodont,  or  more  primitive  marsupials,  showing  longi- 
tudinal stripes,  we  have  in  this  group  only  the  three- 
striped  and  single-striped  opossums  thus  marked,  and  in 
these  the  stripes  are  respectively  reduced  to  the  numbers 
indicated  by  their  names.  This,  however,  is  not  all,  for 
the  banded  ant-eater  takes  its  name  from  the  narrow  trans- 
verse white  stripes  with  which  the  back  is  marked;  while 
the  thylacine,  which  cannot  in  any  sense  be  regarded  as  a 
specialised  type,  is  similarly  marked  with  broader  dark 
stripes,  neither  of  these  animals  having  any  trace  of  a 
longitudinal  stripe  down  the  back.  The  water-opossum, 


SPOTS   AND   STRIPES   IN   MAMMALS  35 

again,  may  be  regarded  as  a  transversely  striped  marsupial, 
although  here  the  stripes  are  few  in  number  and  approxi- 
mate in  form  to  blotches.  Although  in  the  same  order  the 
dasyures  are  spotted  with  white,  we  have  no  black-spotted 
marsupial ;  and  if  such  a  type  formed  the  transition 
between  longitudinal  and  transverse  stripes,  surely  some 
species  showing  such  a  type  of  coloration  ought  to  have 
persisted. 

Then,  again,  in  the  ungulates  we  have  the  zebra- 
antelopes,  the  gnus,  and  the  zebras  showing  most  strongly 
marked  transverse  dark  stripes ;  but  we  have  no  dark- 
spotted  forms  in  the  whole  order  except  the  giraffes,  while 
the  only  ones  with  dark  longitudinal  stripes  are  young 
pigs.  And  it  would  thus  appear  that,  although  all  the 
animals  above  mentioned  are  highly  specialised  species, 
these  tranverse  stripes  and  dark  blotches  must  have 
originated  de  novo  quite  independently  in  each  of  the 
groups  in  question.  Indeed,  when  we  remember  that  the 
coloration  of  zebras,  antelopes,  and  giraffes  is  generally 
of  a  protective  nature — the  stripes  of  the  former  rendering 
the  animals  invisible  on  sandy  ground  in  moonlight,  and, 
to  a  great  extent,  also  in  sunlight,  while  the  blotches  of 
the  latter  harmonise  exactly  with  the  chequered  shade 
thrown  by  the  mimosa-trees  among  which  they  feed — it 
is  incredible  that  both  types  should  have  been  evolved, 
according  to  a  rigid  rule,  from  animals  marked  by  dark 
longitudinal  stripes. 

Another  instance  of  the  same  nature  is  afforded  by  the 
cats,  in  most  of  which  the  coloration  appears  to  be 
mainly  of  a  protective  nature,  plain-coloured  species,  like 
the  puma  and  lion,  having  tawny  coats  harmonising  with 
the  sandy  deserts  which  these  animals  often  inhabit,  while 
the  vertical  stripes  of  the  tiger,  although  in  some  degree 


36  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

resembling  the  perpendicular  lights  and  shadows  of  a 
grass-jungle,  are  probably  for  the  purpose  of  breaking 
up  the  outline  of  the  body.  The  clouded  markings  of 
the  marbled  cat  and  clouded  leopard  assimilate  with  the 
boughs  on  which  these  species  repose,  and  the  spotted 
coat  of  the  Indian  desert-cat  renders  the  creature  almost 
invisible  in  stony  deserts.  To  suppose  that  all  such 
adaptations  have  been  produced  in  the  regular  order  re- 
quired by  the  theory  is  as  incredible  as  in  the  last  case. 
There  is,  moreover,  the  circumstance  that  the  young  of  the 
uniformly  coloured  lion  and  puma  are  spotted,  thus  giving 
an  instance  of  the  direct  passage  from  a  spotted  to  a 
plain-coloured  form  without  the  intervention  of  a  trans- 
versely striped  stage,  precisely  the  same  thing  also 
occurring  in  the  case  of  the  deer.  It  should,  however, 
be  mentioned  that  lion  cubs  occasionally  have  their  tails 
ringed  like  that  of  a  tiger,  instead  of  spotted  in  leopard- 
fashion  ;  so  that  in  this  particular  instance  transverse 
stripes  are  intercalated  between  the  spotted  and  the  uni- 
formly coloured  stages. 

If  we  look  for  the  most  primitive  mammals  with  longi- 
tudinal dark  stripes  over  the  greater  part  of  the  upper 
surface,  such  types  being  wanting  in  the  marsupials,  we 
shall  find  them  in  the  striped  mongooses  (Galidictis)  of 
Madagascar,  already  mentioned.  And  as  the  civets  and 
their  allies  are  certainly  the  most  generalised  of  existing  car- 
nivora  (although  the  modern  members  of  that  order  occupy 
a  somewhat  high  position),  this  case  tends,  in  a  certain 
degree,  to  lend  some  support  to  the  view  that  longitudinal 
dark  stripes  are  an  early  type.  The  rarity  of  animals 
exhibiting  this  pattern  over  all  their  bodies,  coupled  with 
the  frequent  retention  of  a  longitudinal  dorsal  stripe,  are 
likewise  in  some  degree  confirmatory  of  the  same  view. 


SPOTS   AND   STRIPES   IN   MAMMALS  37 

With  regard  to  the  conspicuous  black  and  white  stripes 
on  the  cheeks  of  the  badger,  and  throughout  the  head  and 
body  in  the  skunks,  South  African  weasel,  and  Cape  polecat, 
it  may  perhaps  be  argued,  with  some  show  of  reason, 
that  we  have  an  old  type  of  coloration.  In  the  badger 
this  type  of  coloration  is  restricted  to  the  face,  where  it 
is  evidently  retained  to  render  the  animal  inconspicuous 
among  the  streaks  of  light  and  shadow  as  it  peers  out  of 
its  burrow.  On  the  other  hand,  they  may  have  been 
acquired  for  this  special  purpose.  In  the  other  forms, 
all  of  which  are  more  or  less  evil-smelling  creatures,  a 
conspicuous  general  coloration  is  an  advantage,  as  warning 
off  other  animals  from  attacking  them  in  mistake  for 
harmless  kinds,  and  the  boldly  alternating  stripes  have 
accordingly  been  retained  all  over  the  body  and  rendered 
as  conspicuous  as  possible. 

I  might  dilate  to  almost  any  extent  on  the  subject  of 
spots  and  stripes  ;  but  sufficient  has  been  adduced,  in  this 
and  the  preceding  article,  to  indicate  the  interest  attaching 
to  the  coloration  of  mammals,  and  to  show  how  far  we 
are  from  understanding  what  has  brought  about  the 
present  state  of  things.  That  uniformly  coloured  mammals 
form  the  climax  of  colour-evolution  in  the  case  of  stripes 
and  spots  may  be  pretty  safely  admitted.  It  may  further 
be  considered  probable  that  longitudinal  dark  stripes  are 
an  old  type  of  coloration  in  at  least  some  groups,  although 
it  does  not  follow  that  this  will  hold  good  for  all,  the 
marsupials  being  possibly  an  exception.  Transverse  stripes 
cannot,  however,  be  made  to  accord  with  Prof.  Eimer's 
theory,  since  not  only  do  they  exist  in  some  of  the  most 
primitive  of  all  mammals,  but  they  reappear  in  certain 
specialised  groups  where  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  pre- 
vious spotted  stage  having  been  passed  through.  While, 


38  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

therefore,  it  is  far  from  improbable  that  there  may  be  a 
certain  substratum  of  truth  in  what  we  may  call  the 
"  longitudinal-spotted-transverse-uniform  "  theory  of  colora- 
tion, I  submit  that  in  its  present  guise  it  cannot  adequately 
explain  the  whole  evolution  of  spots  and  stripes  in 
mammals. 


; 


THE  DOMESTICATION  OF  WILD  ANIMALS 

SOME  time  ago  the  Societe  d'Acclimatation  de  France 
published  in  its  Bulletin  an  address  delivered  by  Dr.  E. 
Trouessart  at  the  Conference  held  on  January  I2th,  1900, 
to  discuss  the  question  of  the  animals  most  suitable  for 
acclimatisation  and  domestication.  The  author  commences 
his  address  by  stating  that  the  present  age  is  one  of 
machinery  and  electricity  ;  and  that  eventually  the  use  of 
these  will  result  in  the  total  consumption  of  all  the  stored 
vegetable  fuels,  such  as  coal  and  petroleum,  buried  in  the 
crust  of  the  earth.  When  such  a  time  comes,  he  argues, 
man  will  be  compelled  to  rely  once  more  exclusively  on 
the  labour  of  animals,  which  derive  their  nutriment  and 
their  'power  from  the  consumption  of  the  living  vegetable 
products  of  the  earth.  It  is,  therefore,  urged  that  it  is 
important  to  domesticate  and  acclimatise  as  many  kinds  of 
wild  animals  as  possible  before  they  are  finally  extermi- 
nated. And  to  support  his  argument  for  domesticating 
animals  other  than  those  now  commonly  held  in  subjection, 
Dr.  Trouessart  points  out  that  while  a  certain  area  of 
country  is  only  capable  of  nourishing  a  definite  limited 
number  of  one  kind  of  animal,  such  as  oxen,  it  is  perfectly 
able  to  sustain  in  addition  some  of  another  description, 
such  as  sheep,  which  are  able  to  pasture  on  ground  over 
which  cattle  have  already  gone  and  eaten  all  they  could 
obtain.  Pigs,  again,  have  a  totally  different  class  of  nutri- 

39 


40  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

ment ;  while  the  goat  can  obtain  a  living  on  ground  where 
a  sheep  would  starve.  Moreover,  the  ass  and  the  mule 
replace  the  horse  in  arid  and  mountainous  countries,  where 
they  thrive  on  a  much  less  luxuriant  diet  than  is  necessary 
to  the  well-being  of  the  latter  animal. 

Then  there  are  climates  in  which  many  of  the  domesti- 
cated animals  of  Europe  will  not  flourish,  dying  either 
from  the  general  effects  of  the  climate  itself,  or  succumbing 
to  the  attacks  of  insect-pests,  as  in  the  familiar  instance 
of  the  African  tsetse-fly. 

As  regards  the  supplementing  of  the  existing  domesti- 
cated animals  of  Europe — whether  they  be  used  for  labour 
or  for  food — by  newly  domesticated  wild  species,  I  venture 
to  think  that,  in  the  main,  there  is  very  little  chance  of 
success.  In  the  first  place,  the  species  we  now  possess  in 
this  condition  are  amply  sufficient  to  serve  all  needs,  and 
are  capable  of  indefinite  multiplication.  And  in  the  second 
place,  it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  would  probably 
take  scores  of  generations  to  make  a  wild  animal  equal  in 
point  of  utility  to  the  old-established  domestic  breeds — 
that  is  to  say,  it  would  take  an  immensely  long  period 
of  time  in  order  to  make  any  wild  animal  as  immune  to 
the  effects  of  in-and-in  breeding  as  is  the  case  with  our 
domesticated  species ;  while  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  time 
would  be  still  longer  before  the  former  would  approach 
many  of  the  latter  in  flesh-forming  power  or  in  the  capacity 
for  early  maturity.  And  in  this  connection  it  is  most 
important  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  great  majority  of  our 
domesticated  animals  are  very  different  in  physical  characters 
from  their  wild  ancestors;  and  that,  in  most  instances,  it 
is  these  highly  modified  breeds  that  are  of  the  greatest 
economic  importance  to  mankind.  To  produce  an  animal 
like  the  sheep,  for  instance,  which  differs  from  all  its  wild 


THE   DOMESTICATION    OF   WILD   ANIMALS      41 

kindred  by  possessing  a  coat  of  wool  instead  of  hair, 
must  have  taken  hundreds,  if  not  thousands  of  years, 
And  it  is  obvious  that  no  newly  domesticated  species  can 
by  any  possibility  assail  the  established  supremacy  of  the 
sheep.  Again,  it  was  attempted  during  the  early  decades 
of  the  last  century  to  domesticate  in  England  the  South 
African  eland,  which  it  was  thought  might  vie  with  the 
ox  as  a  beef-producer,  the  experiment  being  carried  out 
by  a  former  Earl  of  Derby  at  Knowsley  Park.  But  the 
experiment  was  a  total  failure,  as  these  animals  breed 
comparatively  slowly,  are  long  in  coming  to  maturity,  and 
bear  no  sort  of  comparison  with  shorthorns  in  capacity 
for  rapidly  putting  on  flesh. 

Although,  as  noticed  later  on,  there  is  a  large  field  for 
the  advocates  of  acclimatisation  in  introducing  new  species 
of  animals  into  European  parks  and  coverts,  either  for 
ornament  or  for  sport,  it  seems  to  be  tolerably  evident 
that,  in  England,  at  any  rate,  the  introduction  and  acclima- 
tisation of  new  kinds  of  domesticated  animals  is  not  at 
all  likely  to  be  attended  with  successful  results.  Possibly, 
indeed,  something  of  this  kind  may  be  accomplished  in 
France,  where  the  habits  of  the  peasantry  are  different 
from  those  which  obtain  in  England.  But,  so  far  as 
economical  considerations  are  concerned,  the  chances  of 
success  in  domestication  are  probably  more  hopeful  in 
Africa  than  anywhere  else.  There  the  experimentalists 
have  before  them  the  grand  opportunity  of  taming  the 
African  elephant,  which,  if  its  disposition  is  at  all  similar 
(and  the  individuals  who  carry  loads  of  our  young  friends 
along  the  gravel  paths  of  the  London  "  Zoo "  seem  to 
indicate  that  it  is)  to  that  of  its  Indian  cousin,  ought  to 
be  invaluable  as  a  means  of  transport.  And  they  have  a 
second  scope  for  their  ingenuity  in  producing  a  tsetse-proof 


42  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

breed  of  zebra-hybrids,  whose  capacity  for  work  and  powers 
of  endurance  should  be  somewhat  on  a  par  with  those  of 
the  horse  and  the  mule. 

Turning  to  the  list  of  animals  given  by  Dr.  Trouessart 
as  suitable  for  domestication  or  acclimatisation,  we  find  it 
headed  by  the  Patagonian  cavy  (Dolichotis  patagonica)  of 
the  open  plains  of  South  America ;  a  creature  singularly 
like  a  hare  in  general  appearance,  although  its  affinities 
are  with  the  guinea-pig.  The  mara,  as  this  animal  is 
called  by  the  natives,  has  already  been  introduced  into 
several  English  parks,  notably  those  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford 
and  Sir  Edmund  Loder,  where  it  appears  to  flourish  well, 
with  a  certain  amount  of  protection.  It  does  not  burrow, 
but  merely  makes  a  "  form  "  among  long  grass,  after  the 
manner  of  the  hare.  Its  flesh  is  of  excellent  quality ;  and 
this,  together  with  its  interesting  habits,  is  urged  as  the 
chief  reason  for  its  introduction.  It  is  not,  however,  a 
rapid  breeder,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  is  diurnal  in 
its  habits  and  slow  in  its  movements  (except  when  tho- 
roughly frightened) ;  so  that  its  chances  of  making  its  way 
in  European  countries,  where  hares  are  year  by  year 
diminishing  in  numbers,  would  appear  to  be  but  small.  A 
second  species  (D.  salinicold)  inhabits  the  salt-plains  of 
the  Argentine,  and  it  is  accordingly  urged  that  it  would 
be  suitable  for  turning  down  in  the  so-called  Chotts  of 
Algeria  and  Tunisia.  But  would  the  game  be  worth  the 
candle  ?  is  the  natural  question. 

With  regard  to  the  domestication  of  the  African  elephant, 
so  much  has  been  written  elsewhere  that  I  may  be  brief  on 
the  present  occasion.  It  is  interesting  to  notice,  however, 
that  the  French  missionaries  of  Fernan-Vaz,  in  the  north 
of  French  Congoland,  have  succeeded  in  taming  a  young 
individual  of  this  species,  which  appears  to  be  the  first  of 


THE   DOMESTICATION   OF   WILD   ANIMALS      43 

its  kind  that  has  been  domesticated  in  modern  times  in  its 
native  land.  This  animal  was  captured  out  of  a  herd  of 
twenty,  when  apparently  five  or  six  years  of  age;  and 
when  the "  account  was  sent  home  had  already  become 
perfectly  tame  and  docile.  It  was  trained  to  draw  a 
waggon  for  carrying  agricultural  produce,  and  also  a  brake 
for  passengers.  As  Dr.  Trouessart  observes,  this  individual 
renders  the  domestication  of  the  African  elephant  practically 
an  accomplished  fact. 

There  remains  the  question  of  breeding  in  captivity ;  but 
British  experiences  in  Burma  indicate  that  this  is  merely 
a  matter  of  expense  in  the  case  of  the  Asiatic  species. 
And  it  is  worth  considering  whether  domestication  is  not 
the  only  chance  of  saving  the  African  elephant  from 
ultimate  extermination. 

Perhaps  even  more  has  been  written  of  late  years  with 
regard  to  the  possibility  of  domesticating  zebras  than  has 
been  devoted  to  the  case  of  the  elephant.  The  general 
opinion  seems  to  be  that  individuals  caught  wild  and  trained 
to  harness  are  too  "  soft "  to  be  of  any  great  permanent 
value  for  draught  purposes,  and  that  either  the  stamina 
and  staying  powers  of  these  animals  will  have  to  be  im- 
proved by  judicious  breeding  in  captivity,  or  that  mules 
between  zebras  and  ponies  will  be  found  more  efficacious 
for  the  needs  of  African  transport.  In  either  event  it  will 
be  essential  to  domesticate  a  large  stock  of  zebras,  as  other- 
wise in  the  course  of  a  few  years  these  handsome  animals 
might  become  so  scarce  as  to  be  practically  unobtainable. 
Whether,  however,  "  zebroids,"  as  it  is  proposed  to  call  the 
hybrids,  will  maintain  the  immunity  against  tsetse  attack 
characteristic  of  pure-bred  zebras,  remains  to  be  proved. 
There  is  also  the  question  as  to  the  fertility  or  otherwise  of 
these  hybrids,  and  the  consideration  that  if  they  produced 


44  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

offspring,  these  would  almost  certainly  resemble  their 
grandparents  and  not  their  parents.  Another  factor  in  the 
case  must  not  be  overlooked — namely,  the  absence  of  wild 
zebras  from  the  great  forest  tracts,  like  Congoland,  of 
Africa ;  and  the  consequent  uncertainty  whether  these 
animals  when  domesticated  would  thrive  in  such  districts. 
Possibly  the  hybrids  might  be  found  to  do  so,  but  it 
is  quite  likely  that  the  pure-bred  animals  would  require 
several  generations  of  domesticity.  Probably  Grevy's  zebra, 
on  account  of  its  large  size  and  good  shape,  would  be  the 
species  best  adapted  for  domestication. 

With  regard  to  the  acclimatisation  of  various  species  of 
foreign  deer  in  European  parks  and  forests,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  many  of  the  larger  kinds,  such  as  the  American 
wapiti,  would  flourish  and  multiply.  But  such  deer,  es- 
pecially after  being  kept  in  captivity,  are  apt  to  be  spiteful 
at  certain  times  of  the  year,  on  which  ground  their  in- 
troduction is  not  altogether  advisable. 

The  same  remark  will  apply  in  a  degree  to  the  Altai 
wapiti,  the  Manchurian  wapiti,  and  the  large  red-deer  of 
the  Caucasus  and  Persia.  The  pretty  little  Japanese  deer 
(Cervus  sicd),  and  their  somewhat  larger  cousin  the 
Manchurian  deer  (C.  sica  manchuricus},  both  of  which  are 
fully  spotted  in  summer,  have,  however,  already  been  success- 
fully introduced  into  parks  in  Ireland,  England,  and  the 
Continent,  where  there  is  every  prospect  that  they  will 
continue  to  thrive.  Moreover,  the  much  larger  and  still 
more  brilliantly  coloured  Peking  deer  (C.  hortulorum)  may 
be  seen  at  liberty  in  numbers  in  the  Duke  of  Bedford's  park 
at  Woburn ;  and  from  its  comparatively  large  size,  fine 
antlers,  beautifully  spotted  summer  coat,  and  generally 
handsome  appearance,  it  is  a  species  in  every  way  suited 
for  acclimatisation  in  Europe, 


THE   DOMESTICATION   OF   WILD   ANIMALS      45 

In  spite,  too,  of  the  warm  climate  of  its  native  home, 
the  Indian  spotted  deer,  or  chital,  takes  kindly  to  a  semi- 
wild  life  in  Europe,  where  it  may  be  seen  in  some  of  the 
parks  of  Ehgland,  France,  and  Germany,  the  acclimatisation 
on  the  Continent  dating  from  more  than  fifty  years  ago. 
At  the  time  of  its  first  introduction  on  the  Continent 
nearly  all  the  fawns  perished  owing  to  having  been  born 
in  winter ;  but  the  females  subsequently  took  to  calving  in 
spring,  after  which  change  of  habit  breeding  has  gone  on 
successfully.  Still  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  such  an 
essentially  exotic  animal  as  the  chital  is  much  less  likely 
to  become  permanently  acclimatised  in  northern  and  central 
Europe  than  is  a  species  like  the  Peking  deer,  whose  home 
is  in  the  steppes  of  Manchuria. 

Hog-deer,  which  have  the  advantage  that  they  do  no 
damage  to  foliage,  seeing  that  they  are  grazing  animals, 
have  been  introduced  into  two  French  parks,  and  also  run 
wild  in  the  woods  at  Woburn.  And  the  same  is  the  case 
with  the  Indian  and  Chinese  species  of  muntjac.  During 
the  cold  winters  of  1879-80  muntjacs  were  seen  in  a  French 
park  during  the  winter  lying  out  on  the  snow  and  apparently 
enjoying  themselves.  For  small  parks  these  little  deer  are 
specially  to  be  commended,  as  their  diminutive  size  removes 
nearly  all  danger  of  a  serious  attack  with  their  antlers. 

The  hornless  Chinese  water-deer  is,  however,  absolutely 
innocuous  in  this  respect;  and  it  also  has  the  further  re- 
commendation that  it  is  much  more  prolific  than  any  other 
member  of  the  Cervidae,  producing  as  many  as  half  a  dozen 
fawns  at  a  birth.  Of  antelopes,  several  kinds  have  been 
more  or  less  acclimatised  in  Europe.  Most  notable  is  the 
case  of  the  nilgai  in  Italy,  where  in  1862  Signer  Comba 
introduced  a  dozen  head  into  his  park  at  Mandria.  Ten 
years  later  no  less  than  172  individuals  were  running  at 


46  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

liberty  in  the  domain  !  A  small  herd  is  now  in  a  thriving 
condition  in  the  open  park  at  Woburn  Abbey.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  eland,  which  may  now  be 
said  to  be  thoroughly  acclimatised  in  several  French  parks. 
There  it  apparently  thrives  without  any  winter  shelter  ;  but 
it  would  seem  that  this  is  an  absolute  necessity  in  England. 
All  the  above-named  species  of  deer  and  antelopes  have 
flesh  of  excellent  quality;  but  for  the  most  part,  at  any 
rate,  their  introduction  into  European  parks  must  be  re- 
garded as  a  luxury,  or  for  the  sake  of  the  sport  they  might 
afford,  rather  than  as  a  commercial  experiment. 

The  African  sing-sing  water-buck  is  likewise  an  antelope 
which  appears  to  take  kindly  to  wild  life  in  Europe.  It 
has  bred  for  many  successive  years  in  Paris,  and  likewise 
flourishes  in  the  park  at  Woburn.  Other  species  of  ante- 
lopes, as  well  as  gazelles,  might  be  mentioned,  which  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe  would  thrive  in  Europe;  and  it 
may  be  added  that  among  the  deer  the  Siberian  roe,  which 
is  a  much  larger  and  finer  animal  than  its  European  relative, 
is  already  established  in  the  Bedfordshire  woods. 

Both  the  American  and  the  European  bison  would  almost 
certainly  thrive  in  the  parks  of  Western  Europe,  if  the  number 
of  individuals  introduced  at  first  starting  were  sufficiently 
large ;  and  herds  of  the  former  animal  are  now  flourishing 
both  in  Bedfordshire  and  Northumberland.  But  the  fierce 
disposition  of  these  huge  animals  will  almost  certainly  be  a 
bar  to  their  general  introduction,  in  spite  of  the  circumstance 
that  "  buffalo-robes  "  have  a  high  commercial  value. 

Finally,  as  regards  kangaroos  and  wallabies,  numerous 
experiments  have  demonstrated  that  these  animals,  under 
certain  conditions,  are  admirably  adapted  to  thrive  in  most 
parts  of  Europe.  By  reason  of  their  strange  form  and 
bizarre  postures,  they  make  attractive  objects  in  a  park, 


THE   DOMESTICATION   OF   WILD   ANIMALS     47 

especially  where  the  ground  is  hilly  or  rocky ;  and  their 
flesh  is  said  to  be  highly  palatable,  while  their  skins  are 
used  both  in  the  manufacture  of  gloves  and  as  furs,  although 
neither  of-  these  two  latter  considerations  are  likely  to  be 
of  any  importance  in  England.  On  an  estate  in  Prussia 
a  drove  of  the  large  kangaroo  was  kept  in  a  condition  of 
almost  complete  liberty  in  1890;  and  at  the  present  time 
various  species  of  both  kangaroos  and  wallabies  are  flourish- 
ing on  the  estates  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  Lord 
Rothschild,  and  Sir  Edmund  Loder.  According,  however, 
to  information  furnished  to  the  writer  by  the  owner  of 
some  tame  wallabies,  it  is  inadvisable  to  keep  these  animals 
in  a  small  enclosure  where  there  is  any  considerable  extent 
of  deep  water  occupying  the  line  of  country  they  are  likely 
to  take  when  frightened.  Otherwise  they  are  prone,  when 
disturbed,  to  plunge  headlong  into  the  water,  where  not 
only  will  the  adults  stand  a  good  chance  of  being  drowned, 
but  the  helpless  young  in  the  pouches  of  the  females  must 
of  necessity  perish  miserably. 

As  the  result  of  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  subject, 
it  may  be  gathered  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  domesti- 
cation of  the  elephant  and  zebras  in  Africa  (if  this  be 
found  practicable),  the  acclimatisation  of  animals  is  unlikely 
to  yield  profitable  results  of  any  importance,  at  any  rate  in 
England ;  but  that  as  a  means  of  largely  increasing  the 
number  of  species  of  herbivorous  animals  kept  in  a  wild 
or  semi-domesticated  state  in  parks  and  enclosures,  it  has 
an  important  future ;  and  it  may  also  prove  to  be  the 
means  of  saving  some  of  the  most  beautiful  species  from 
the  fate  of  impending  extermination  which  threatens  not  a 
few.  In  the  case  of  persons  of  comparatively  small  means, 
Dr.  Trouessart  recommends  that  they  confine  their  efforts 
to  acclimatising  a  single  species. 


THE   ORIGIN   OF    SOME    DOMESTICATED 
ANIMALS 

FEW  subjects  are  hidden  in  greater  obscurity  than  is  the 
origin  of  many  of  our  domesticated  animals  ;  and  seeing 
that  man  in  all  probability  began  to  exercise  his  power  of 
dominion  over  the  wild  creatures  by  which  he  was  sur- 
rounded at  a  very  early  date  indeed,  this  is  not  more 
than  might  be  expected.  When  animals  were  first  domes- 
ticated, and  which  were  the  species  that  first  came  under 
the  yoke  of  servitude,  we  shall  never  know.  The  available 
evidence  points,  however,  very  clearly  to  the  conclusion  that 
Asia  was  the  great  original  centre  of  the  early  domestication 
of  Old  World  animals ;  although  North-Eastern  Africa 
seems  also  to  have  participated  to  a  certain  extent.  So  far 
as  it  goes  this  tends  to  confirm  the  conclusion  that  Asia 
has  been  the  cradle  of  the  human  race,  although  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  different  races  exhibit  wide  differences 
in  their  capacity  for  domesticating  animals ;  those  of  Africa 
being  far  inferior  in  this  respect  to  many  Asiatic  tribes. 

When  any  species  of  animal — provided  that  it  will  breed 
in  this  state — had  once  been  domesticated,  it  is  probable 
that  the  descendants  of  such  domesticated  stock  have  formed 
the  basis  of  all  or  most  of  the  later  breeds;  for  it  is 
obviously  much  easier  to  train  such  stock  than  to  commence 
again  de  novo  with  a  wild  strain.  Still,  there  are  many 
cases  where  subsequent  crosses  have  taken  place  with  a 

48 


ORIGIN   OF   SOME   DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS     49 

wild  race,  or  races.  From  the  point  of  view  of  their 
origin,  domesticated  animals  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes.  In  the  first  class  we  have  those  which  but  seldom 
or  never  breed  in  captivity,  and  of  which  the  domesticated 
race  has  constantly  to  be  replenished  by  the  capture  and 
training  of  wild  individuals.  Apparently,  the  only  two 
mammals  coming  under  this  category  are  the  Indian  elephant 
and  the  hunting-leopard.  The  latter  can,  however,  only  by 
courtesy  be  termed  a  domesticated  animal,  and  may  accord- 
ingly be  dismissed  from  further  notice.  With  regard  to 
the  elephant,  the  most  curious  feature  is  the  readiness  with 
which  wild  individuals  submit  themselves  to  servitude,  and 
the  aptitude  they  display  for  learning  their  allotted  duties. 
Fortunately  the  elephant  is  an  extremely  long-lived  animal, 
and  therefore  it  has  time  to  learn  much  during  its  period 
of  captivity,  while  the  necessity  for  fresh  captures  is  pro- 
portionately diminished.  Modern  naturalists  insist — and 
rightly  so — on  the  inferiority  of  the  intelligence  of  the 
elephant  as  compared  with  that  of  many  domesticated 
creatures — the  dog,  for  instance.  But  it  is  generally  for- 
gotten that,  in  consequence  of  its  not  usually  breeding  in 
captivity,  there  is  no  domesticated  race  which  has  acquired 
the  experience  and  docility  of  years  of  servitude.  And  it 
is  a  subject  for  reflection  to  consider  what  might  be  the 
intellectual  capacity  of  this  animal  had  it  been  in  continuous 
domestication  for  as  long  a  period  as  the  dog. 

In  the  second  class  come  those  animals  of  which  the 
ancestral  wild  stock  is  either  still  existing,  or  was  so  within 
the  historic  or  prehistoric  period.  In  this  category  come 
the  horse,  ass,  ox,  goat,  and  probably  the  cat  and  dog. 
The  third  class  includes  those  domesticated  animals  of 
which  the  wild  stock  is  not  only  extinct,  but  is  likewise 
totally  unknown. 

4 


50  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Commencing  with  the  camel,  it  is  probably  known  to 
most  of  my  readers  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  this  animal — 
namely,  the  two-humped  Bactrian  camel  (Camelus  bactrianus] 
of  Central  Asia,  and  the  one-humped  Arabian  camel  (C. 
dromedarius),  now  common  to  Asia  and  North  Africa.  It 
has  been  affirmed  that  wild  Bactrian  camels  occur  in  the 
deserts  of  Turkestan,  but  it  is  almost  certain  that  some  at 
least  of  these  are  descendants  of  a  domestic  race  which 
escaped  from  captivity  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago.  Others  may,  however,  be  truly  wild.  The  only  clue 
to  the  original  habitat  of  the  genus  is  afforded  by  the 
remains  of  fossil  camels  in  North-Eastern  India,  Eastern 
Europe,  and  Algeria ;  and  as  the  former  occur  in  the  older 
deposits,  it  seems  probable  that  Central  Asia  is  the  cradle 
of  the  race.  At  what  period  the  camel  was  first  domesti- 
cated is  lost  in  the  mists  of  antiquity.  From  its  absence 
in  the  Egyptian  frescoes,  it  has  been  stated  that  this 
animal  was  unknown  to  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  Delta 
of  the  Nile;  but  this  is  controverted  by  a  papyrus  of  the 
fourteenth  century  B.C.,  in  which  reference  is  made  to 
camels. 

Considering  the  very  large  number  of  existing  wild 
species  of  the  genus  Ovis,  it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact 
that  we  are  unable  to  point  to  the  ancestral  stock  of  the 
sheep.  As  we  know  them  in  this  country,  domesticated 
sheep  differ  from  their  wild  kindred  by  their  woolly  fleece, 
the  wild  species  having  hair  more  like  that  of  a  deer.  But 
as  some  of  the  native  domesticated  sheep  of  Asia  and 
Africa  have  a  more  or  less  hairy  coat,  the  difficulty  does 
not  lie  here.  With  the  single  exception  of  the  arui,  or 
Barbary  sheep  of  Northern  Africa,  all  wild  sheep  have 
short  tails;  whereas  in  the  domesticated  races  this  appen- 
dage, until  docked,  is  very  long.  The  reader  may  ask  why 


ORIGIN   OF   SOME   DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS     51 

we  do  not  regard  the  arui  as  the  parent  stock.  To  which 
it  may  be  replied  that  the  latter  species  has  smoother  horns, 
with  a  curvature  quite  unlike  those  of  any  of  the  domesti- 
cated races,  which  approximate  to  the  horns  of  the  Corsican 
muflon.  It  seems  somewhat  difficult  to  believe  that  a 
long  tail  can  have  been  developed  from  a  short  tail — as 
precisely  the  opposite  development  is  the  only  one  with 
which  we  are  acquainted;  but,  nevertheless,  it  has  been 
suggested  that  the  long  tails  of  the  domesticated  breeds 
are  a  kind  of  degenerate  development.  If  this  be  sub- 
stantiated, there  is  no  reason  why  the  muflon — a  European 
wild  sheep,  which  in  former  times  probably  had  a  wider 
distribution — or  some  allied  Asiatic  species,  should  not  have 
been  the  original  progenitor  of  the  domesticated  breeds.  A 
small  breed  of  long-legged  sheep,  with  somewhat  goatlike 
horns,  was  in  existence  at  the  long-distant  epoch  when  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Swiss  pile-villages  flourished,  and  its 
descendants  still  survive  in  some  of  the  more  remote 
districts  of  the  Swiss  Alps,  where  the  breed  is  known  as 
the  bundnerschafe.  So  far  as  it  goes,  this  form  suggests 
that  the  domesticated  breeds  are  derived  from  an  extinct 
species.  Although  domestic  breeds  were  possessed  by  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  the  sheep  represented  in  the  frescoes 
seems  to  be  the  wild  arui. 

With  domesticated  goats  the  case  is  very  different ;  it 
being  practically  certain  that  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  breeds 
of  Europe  and  Western  Asia  are  derived  from  the  Persian 
wild  goat,  or  pasang,  which  ranges  from  Asia  Minor  through 
Persia  to  Afghanistan  and  Sind.  This  handsome  species 
has  long  scimitar-like  horns,  with  the  front  surface  forming 
a  sharp  ridge,  instead  of  being  flattened  and  knobbed,  as 
in  the  ibex.  Many  domesticated  breeds  have  very  similar 
horns ;  but  in  others,  especially  from  Central  Asia,  the 


52  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

horns  are  more  or  less  corkscrew-like.  As  the  wild  markhor 
of  the  Himalaya  has  horns  of  a  similar  type,  it  has  been 
suggested  that  many  of  the  Asiatic  breeds  are  derived 
from  that  species.  Against  that  view  is  the  circumstance 
that  the  direction  of  the  spiral  in  the  domesticated  breeds 
is  generally,  although  not  invariably,  just  the  reverse  of 
that  in  the  markhor.  Although  it  is  possible  that  some 
Asiatic  breeds  may  trace  their  origin  to  the  latter,  it  is  more 
probable  that  they  are  derived  from  the  pasang  but  have 
been  crossed  with  the  markhor.  Most  likely  the  goat  was 
first  domesticated  in  Western  Asia,  whence  it  was  imported 
into  Africa,  where  it  has  departed  very  widely  from  the 
original  type.  A  superstition  prevails  in  countries  so  wide 
apart  from  one  another  as  Scotland  and  Kashmir  that  goats 
are  deadly  foes  to  snakes  (the  name  "  markhor "  signifying 
snake-eater),  and  it  would  be  very  interesting  to  discover 
whether  the  legend  has  any  foundation  in  fact. 

The  numerous  breeds  of  domesticated  cattle  of  Europe 
all  trace  their  ancestry  to  the  great  extinct  wild  ox,  or 
aurochs,  which,  as  stated  in  another  article,  lived  on  in 
England  at  least  as  late  as  the  Neolithic  period,  and  sur- 
vived to  a  much  later  date  on  the  Continent.  It  has  often 
been  said  that  the  white  cattle  of  Chillingham  Park  are  the 
direct  descendants  of  the  aurochs,  but  it  is  practically 
certain  that  they  are  derived  from  a  domesticated  breed. 
Many  breeds,  such  as  the  so-called  Celtic  shorthorn,  were 
established  at  an  early  period  of  human  progress,  and 
these  have  been  incorrectly  regarded  as  distinct  species, 
although  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  have  the  same  ancestry. 
The  geographical  range  of  the  aurochs  was  very  extensive, 
and  the  original  domestication  may  have  taken  place  in 
Western  Asia.  The  humped  cattle  of  India  seem  to  trace 
their  origin  to  a  distinct  wild  species  now  extinct,  and  the 


ORIGIN   OF  SOME  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS     53 

ancestral  form  may  perhaps  be  looked  for  among  the  extinct 
oxen  whose  remains  are  found  in  the  gravels  of  the  Narbada 
Valley.  Some  have,  indeed,  considered  that  humped  cattle 
originated  in  Africa,  where  they  are  represented  by  the 
so-called  Galla  ox;  but  it  is  more  probable  that  they  are 
really  of  Oriental  extraction  and  have  been  introduced  into 
the  Dark  Continent. 

During  the  immense  period  that  they  have  been  domesti- 
cated, the  true  oxen  have  displayed  great  adaptability  to 
modification,  as  is  exemplified  by  the  difference  between 
such  breeds  as  Highland,  Polled  Angus,  Galloway,  Kerry, 
Devon,  Longhorns,  Shorthorns,  and  Jersey.  Not  so  the 
buffalo  of  Asia,  which,  although  long  domesticated  in  India, 
and  subsequently  introduced  into  Egypt,  and  thence  into 
Italy,  has  in  nowise  departed  from  the  wild  type,  save  as 
regards  a  somewhat  smaller  stature  and  a  diminished 
length  of  horn.  Certain  other  species  of  cattle,  such  as  the 
gayal  (Bos  frontalis)  of  North-East  India  and  the  banting 
(B.  banting)  of  the  Malay  countries,  have  been  more  or  less 
domesticated  by  various  Oriental  races,  although  in  the 
latter  case  the  domesticated  breed  seems  to  be  renovated 
from  time  to  time  with  a  cross  of  the  wild  stock.  All  these 
forms  seem  to  be  unadapted  for  variation,  and  consequently 
breed  true.  No  attempt  ever  seems  to  have  been  made  to 
domesticate  the  bison  ;  while,  true  to  their  instincts,  the 
natives  of  South  Africa  have  never  enthralled  the  buffalo 
of  that  country. 

Till  within  the  last  few  years  the  origin  of  the  domesti- 
cated ass  was  a  matter  of  some  uncertainty,  seeing  that 
all  the  Asiatic  wild  asses  differ  considerably  from  the 
familiar  animal.  Recently,  however,  a  wild  ass  has  been 
brought  from  Somaliland  which  differs  in  no  important 
character  from  the  domesticated  form,  and  is  its  undoubted 


54  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

ancestor.  Some  of  these  Somali  asses  are,  it  is  true,  more 
striped  on  the  legs  than  is  commonly  the  case  with  the 
domesticated  breed  ;  but  then  some  examples  of  the  latter 
are  nearly  or  quite  as  fully  marked  as  the  wild  race,  while 
some  African  specimens  have  nearly  uniformly  coloured 
limbs.  Possibly  the  Somali  wild  ass  may  originally  have 
ranged  into  Syria  and  Arabia ;  and,  in  any  case,  it  is 
probable  that  it  was  first  tamed  there,  and  thence  intro- 
duced into  Europe.  Indeed,  the  Greek  name  (pnos)  of  the 
ass  is  stated  to  be  derived  from  a  Semitic  root ;  and  since 
this  name  occurs  but  once  in  the  "  Iliad,"  and  not  at  all 
in  either  the  "  Odyssey  "  or  in  Hesiod,  it  has  been  inferred 
that  the  ass  was  a  rare  and  little-known  animal  in  Greece 
during  the  epic  period. 

Whether  any  truly  wild  horses  have  survived  till 
modern  times  has  been  disputed.  With  the  exception  of 
the  Mongolian  Przewalski's  horse,  which  does  not  seem 
specifically  distinct  from  the  domesticated  Equus  cabal/us, 
the  only  animals  which  can  lay  claim  to  that  title  are  the 
so-called  tarpan  of  the  steppes  of  Central  Asia,  which  for- 
merly ranged  as  far  westward  as  the  Volga,  but  are  now 
exterminated.  Some  authorities  are  of  opinion  that  these 
tarpan  are  a  truly  wild  race,  while  by  others  they  are 
regarded  as  feral — that  is  to  say,  descended  from  a  domes- 
ticated stock.  It  is  certain  that  the  droves  of  tarpan 
at  times  received  an  influx  of  feral  animals ;  but  whether 
they  were  feral  or  truly  wild — and  the  evidence  seems 
rather  in  favour  of  their  wild  origin — they  undoubtedly 
resembled  the  ancestral  type  of  the  horse.  This,  of  course, 
will  be  due  in  the  one  case  to  reversion,  and  in  the  other 
to  direct  inheritance.  They  were  rather  small,  clumsily 
built  animals,  with  remarkably  ugly  heads ;  their  general 
colour  being  dun.  During  the  Pleistocene  period  horses 


ORIGIN   OF  SOME   DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS     55 

of  apparently  similar  type  to  the  tarpan  wandered  over  a 
great  part  of  Europe  and  Western  Asia,  as  is  attested  by 
their  fossilised  remains ;  and  from  other  evidence  it  is 
probable  that  at  the  epoch  in  question  the  physical  con- 
dition of  much  of  Europe  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Asiatic 
steppes  at  the  present  day.  Such  conditions  would  seem, 
indeed,  to  be  essential  for  the  existence  of  wild  horses, 
which  are  animals  specially  adapted  for  a  life  on  the  open 
plains,  where  they  find  safety  in  flight.  It  is  true  that 
wild  horses  were  found  in  parts  of  Europe  at  a  much  later 
epoch,  when  the  country  had  become  forest-clad ;  but  it  is 
quite  possible  that  these  were  really  feral  races.  When  we 
come  to  the  consideration  of  the  place  and  time  of  the  first 
domestication  of  the  horse,  the  usual  difference  of  opinion 
prevails  among  those  most  capable  of  forming  a  judgment. 
It  was  at  one  time  considered  that  the  horse  was  first 
domesticated  in  the  East,  but  later  authorities  are  more 
inclined  to  think  that  the  wild  horse  was  also  subjugated 
by  the  stone-implement  makers  of  Western  Europe.  This 
race  is  considered  to  have  given  rise  to  the  ordinary 
European  breeds ;  but  thoroughbred  horses  are  probably 
of  Eastern  origin.  We  naturally  look  to  Arabia  as  the 
ancestral  home  of  the  Eastern  breed ;  but  this  is  a 
mistake,  as  the  horse  is  known  to  be  a  comparatively  late 
introduction  into  that  country,  the  Arabs  even  as  late  as 
the  time  of  Strabo  having  neither  horses  nor  asses,  and 
going  to  battle  mounted  on  camels. 

In  the  early  days  of  Egypt — that  is  to  say,  during  the 
period  known  as  the  "old  kingdom"— the  horse  was  un- 
known in  the  Nile  Valley  ;  the  animal  not  making  its  appear- 
ance in  the  frescoes  till  about  the  year  1800  B.C.  Probably 
the  horse  entered  Egypt  via  Mesopotamia  and  Syria,  where, 
as  we  learn  from  the  Nineveh  sculptures,  it  had  long  been 


56  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

known.  It  has  been  well  remarked  that  even  these  sculp- 
tures afford  evidence  that  the  horse  was  a  comparatively 
new  animal  to  the  Assyrians — that  is  to  say,  these  warriors 
were  not  such  splendid  riders  as  were  the  Parthian s  at 
a  later  date,  and  as  are  the  Turkomans  now.  If  any  of 
my  readers  will  visit  the  British  Museum  and  inspect  the 
Assyrian  sculptures,  he  will  scarcely  fail  to  notice  that, 
whereas  those  mounted  warriors  who  are  armed  with  the 
spear  manage  their  own  horses,  such  as  carry  a  bow  have 
their  horses  led  by  a  comrade.  Manifestly,  the  Assyrian 
warrior  was  incapable  of  managing  his  steed  when  both 
his  hands  were  occupied  with  his  weapon ;  and  he  was 
thus  a  far  less  accomplished  horseman  than  the  Parthian 
or  the  Turkoman. 

Although  the  evidence  is  not  decisive,  the  probability  is 
that  the  horse  was  first  introduced  into  Assyria  from  Persia. 
The  ancient  records  of  India  indicate  that  horses  were  by 
no  means  common  there,  while  such  as  there  were  excelled 
neither  in  strength,  speed,  nor  beauty.  The  Indian  climate 
is,  indeed,  unsuited  to  the  animal  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  was  originally  introduced  from  the  north.  But  the 
original  horse  must  have  come  from  somewhere,  and  the 
probability  is  that  the  nomad  Mongols  in  the  east  and 
the  Turkomans  in  the  west — still  some  of  the  most  splendid 
horsemen  the  world  has  ever  seen — were  the  first  Asiatic 
tribes  to  subdue  the  noblest  of  man's  servants.  This  being 
so,  and  Turkestan  and  Mongolia  being  the  home  of  the 
tarpan  and  other  wild  horses,  it  follows  not  only  that 
the  latter  are  really  wild,  but  that  the  thoroughbred  of 
the  East  has  the  same  ancestry  as  the  underbred  animal 
of  the  West,  and  consequently  that  "  blood  "  is  merely  a 
matter  of  careful  selection  and  breeding  for  countless 
centuries,  and  is  not  due  to  inherent  superiority  of  origin. 


ORIGIN   OF  SOME   DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS     57 

From  the  plains  of  Turkestan  the  horse  spread  in  one 
direction  to  the  Punjab  and  the  plains  of  Hindustan,  and 
in  the  other  through  Persia  to  Mesopotamia  and  Assyria, 
and  thence 'westwards  to  Egypt  and  southwards  to  Arabia. 
Among  the  Arabs  it  soon  became  indispensable  to  its 
master;  and,  as  already  said,  this  intimate  union  between 
man  and  quadruped  renders  it  difficult  to  believe  that  Arabia 
is  not  the  original  home  of  the  horse.  Uncivilised  races, 
though  highly  conservative  in  some  matters,  in  others  soon 
adapt  themselves  to  new  circumstances;  and  the  case  of 
the  North  American  Indians  affords  an  example  of  the 
rapidity  with  which  a  people  among  whom  the  horse  was 
unknown  can  develop  into  a  race  of  horsemen.  Had  we 
not  historic  evidence  to  the  contrary,  there  is,  indeed,  no 
saying  but  that  the  original  subjugation  of  the  horse  might 
have  been  attributed  to  the  Indian  of  the  prairies. 


HOW  ARCTIC   ANIMALS  TURN  WHITE 

ALTHOUGH  I  have  not  the  details  of  any  one  particular  case 
before  me,  so  many  instances  are  chronicled  in  which  the 
hair  of  human  beings,  under  the  influence  of  strong  mental 
emotion  due  to  terror  or  grief,  has  become  suddenly 
blanched  within  a  single  night  or  some  such  period  of 
time,  that  the  occasional  occurrence  of  such  a  phenomenon 
must  apparently  be  accepted  as  a  fact.  Such  a  change  is, 
of  course,  due  to  the  bleaching  of  the  pigment  with  which 
the  hair  is  coloured,  although  we  need  not  stop  to  inquire 
by  what  particular  means  this  bleaching  is  accomplished  ; 
all  that  concerns  us  on  the  present  occasion  being  to  know 
that  the  hair  in  man  may  turn  white  in  this  manner  under 
abnormal  circumstances.  And  there  appears  to  be  evidence 
that  under  equally  abnormal  conditions  a  similar  change 
may  take  place  suddenly  in  the  hair  of  the  lower  animals. 
This  is  exemplified  by  the  well-known  experiment  made 
considerably  more  than  half  a  century  ago  by  Sir  John 
Richardson  on  an  Arctic  lemming — a  small  mouse-like 
rodent,  which  habitually  turns  white  in  winter,  although 
dark-coloured  in  summer.  In  this  instance  the  little 
animal  was  kept  in  a  comparatively  warm  room  till  winter 
was  well  advanced,  when  it  was  suddenly  exposed  to  a 
temperature  of  30°  below  zero;  a  continued  exposure  to 
this  and  a  still  more  intense  degree  of  cold  eventually 
resulted  in  its  death,  which  took  place  within  three 

58 


HOW  ARCTIC  ANIMALS   TURN  WHITE          59 

weeks  of  the  commencement  of  the  experiment.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  conditions  under  which  it  had  been  kept, 
this  lemming  was  still  brown  in  midwinter,  when  it  ought 
to  have  be£n  white.  As  the  result  of  its  first  night's 
exposure,  the  fur  on  the  cheeks  and  a  patch  on  each 
shoulder  became  completely  white,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
first  week  the  whole  coat  had  turned  white.  On  exami- 
nation it  was  found  that  only  the  tips  of  some  of  the  hairs 
had  become  blanched,  and  that  these  white-tipped  hairs 
were  longer  than  the  rest  of  the  coat,  apparently  owing 
to  a  sudden  growth  on  their  part  in  the  course  of  the 
experiment.  By  clipping  these  long  white-tipped  hairs  the 
animal  was  restored  to  its  original  brown  condition. 

Nothing  is  said  with  regard  to  any  change  of  coat  on 
the  part  of  this  lemming  previous  to  the  experiment,  but 
it  is  probable  that  none  occurred.  It  seems,  however,  to 
be  clearly  demonstrated  that  the  tips  of  the  hairs  lost  their 
colour  by  bleaching,  induced  by  sudden  exposure  to  the 
intense  cold,  and  that  the  hairs  thus  blanched  increased 
considerably  in  length  in  a  very  short  period. 

In  spite  of  the  very  obvious  fact  that  these  changes 
occurred  under  extremely  abnormal  circumstances,  it  has 
been  argued  that  Arctic  mammals  which  turn  white  in 
winter  do  so  normally  by  a  similar  blanching  of  the  hair 
of  the  summer  coat,  and  that  the  greater  length  of  the 
winter,  as  compared  with  the  summer  dress  of  such  white 
animals,  is  due  to  a  lengthening  of  the  individual  hairs  of 
the  former.*  Moreover,  it  has  been  inferred  that  the 
colour-change  is  directly  under  the  control  of  the  animals 
themselves.  Quite  apart  from  many  other  considerations, 
one  weak  point  in  this  argument  is  that  the  hairs  in  the 
subject  of  the  experiment  were  white  only  at  their  tips. 
*  See  E.  B.  Poulton,  "The  Colours  of  Animals,"  chap.  vii.  (1900). 


60  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

It  was  doubtless  assumed  that,  had  the  experiment  been 
extended  over  a  longer  period,  the  white  would  have 
gradually  extended  downwards  till  the  whole  hair  became 
blanched.  But  had  this  been  the  normal  way  in  which 
the  change  from  a  black  to  a  white  coat  is  brought  about, 
it  is  obvious  that  animals  ought  frequently  to  be  captured 
in  which  the  coat  is  in  the  same  condition  as  that  of  the 
lemming.  So  far,  however,  as  I  am  aware,  no  such  con- 
dition has  ever  been  described. 

Moreover,  it  is  perfectly  well  known  that,  apart  from 
those  which  turn  white  in  winter,  a  large  number  of 
animals  have  a  winter  coat  differing  markedly  in  colour, 
as  well  as  in  length,  from  the  summer  dress.  The  roebuck, 
for  instance,  is  of  a  brilliant  foxy  red  in  summer,  while  in 
winter  it  is  grey- fawn  with  a  large  patch  of  pure  white  on 
the  buttocks.  And  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  change  from 
red  to  grey,  and  the  development  of  the  white  rump-patch, 
is  due  to  the  shedding  of  the  short  summer  coat  and  its 
replacement  by  the  longer  winter  dress.  Obviously,  there- 
fore, it  is  natural  to  expect  that  a  similar  change  of  coat 
takes  place  in  the  case  of  mammals  which  turn  white  in 
winter. 

That  the  change  in  spring  from  a  white  to  a  dark  dress 
is  due  to  a  shedding  of  the  fur  seems  to  be  admitted  on 
all  hands,  for  it  would  obviously  be  quite  impossible  for 
long  hairs  to  become  short,  or  for  white  ones  to  turn 
brown.  And  even  in  animals  which  do  not  alter  their 
colour  in  any  very  marked  degree  according  to  season,  the 
spring  change  of  coat  is  sufficiently  obvious.  For  the 
winter  coat,  owing  to  the  long  time  it  is  carried  and  the 
inclemency  of  the  season  when  it  is  in  use,  becomes  much 
faded  and  worn  by  the  time  spring  comes,  and  the  con- 
trast between  it  and  the  fresh  and  brilliant  summer  coat 


HOW  ARCTIC   ANIMALS   TURN   WHITE          61 

is  very  striking  indeed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  summer 
coat  is  only  donned  for  a  comparatively  short  season,  and 
that  at  a  time  of  year  when  it  does  not  become  much 
damaged  by"  the  effects  of  the  weather.  Consequently  no 
marked  change  is  noticeable  as  the  long  winter  hairs  grow 
up  through  it,  and  it  has  accordingly  become  a  common 
article  of  belief  that,  whether  there  is  a  change  of  colour 
or  not,  the  long  winter  coat  is  produced  by  a  lengthening 
of  the  summer  dress. 

Apart  from  the  evidence  of  animals  like  the  roebuck 
and  many  other  deer  as  to  the  existence  of  an  autumn 
change  of  coat,  as  deduced  from  a  difference  in  colour, 
the  fact  of  such  a  shedding  of  the  fur  is  demonstrated 
by  the  circumstance  that  in  many  species,  as,  for  instance, 
the  mountain  hare,  the  individual  hairs  themselves,  as  seen 
under  a  microscope,  differ  appreciably  in  calibre  at  the  two 
opposite  seasons  of  the  year.  In  that  species,  for  example, 
the  hairs  of  the  winter  coat  are  of  a  much  finer  character 
than  are  those  forming  the  short  dress  of  summer,  which 
are  comparatively  coarse  and  thick.  Moreover,  in  spite  of 
the  natural  tendency  to  believe  in  blanching  on  account 
of  the  aforesaid  abnormal  instances  of  turning  white  in  a 
single  night,  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that  even 
in  human  hair  the  change  from  dark  to  white  as  age 
advances  is  brought  about  by  the  replacement  of  dark 
hairs  by  white  ones,  and  not  by  the  bleaching  of  the 
former.  In  this  case,  however,  the  change,  instead  of 
being  seasonal  and  sudden,  is  gradual  and  due  to  age. 
If  the  change  was  due  to  blanching,  we  should,  of  course, 
find  some  hairs  which  were  partially  white  and  partially 
brown  (or  black,  as  the  case  may  be).  And  here  it 
may  be  remarked  that  if  such  partially  blanched  hairs 
were  met  with,  we  should  naturally  expect  to  find  that 


62  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

it  would  be  the  basal  half  which  was  white,  and  the 
terminal  half  which  retained  its  natural  colouring — in  other 
words,  precisely  the  reverse  of  the  condition  obtaining  in 
Sir  John  Richardson's  lemming,  thereby  affording  further 
presumptive  evidence  as  to  the  abnormal  condition  of  the 
change  in  that  animal. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  those  of  us  who  have 
reached  an  age  when  silver  hairs  have  begun  to  make 
their  appearance  among  the  brown  can  easily  satisfy  them- 
selves that  such  hairs  are  white  throughout  their  entire 
length,  and  that  a  hair  half  white  and  half  brown  is  quite 
unknown.  From  this  we  infer  that  the  change  from  brown 
to  white  takes  place  in  human  beings  by  the  gradual 
shedding  of  the  dark  hairs  and  their  replacement  by  new 
ones  from  which  pigment  is  entirely  absent.  So  that 
normally  there  is  no  such  thing  as  bleaching  of  individual 
hairs.  The  change  is,  indeed,  precisely  similar  to  the  one 
which  takes  place  at  the  approach  of  winter  in  mammals 
that  habitually  turn  white  at  that  season,  with  the  exception 
that,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is  extremely  slow  and  gradual, 
instead  of  being  comparatively  rapid,  and  also  that  the  white 
hairs  differ  from  their  dark  predecessors  solely  by  the 
absence  of  colouring-matter.  Unfortunately,  there  is  no 
subsequent  replacement  of  the  white  hairs  by  dark  ones  ! 

The  fact  that  the  change  from  brown  to  white  in  the 
mountain  hare  (Lepus  timidus)  is  really  due  to  a  change 
of  coat  and  not  to  bleaching  was  known  at  a  very  early 
period  to  the  English  naturalist  Pennant ;  and  the  exist- 
ence of  this  change  was  likewise  recognised  by  Macgillivray. 
It  was  not,  however,  till  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen,  in  a  paper  on 
the  colour-change  in  the  North  American  variable  hare 
published  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  for  1894,  demonstrated  by  actual  experiment  the 


HOW  ARCTIC   ANIMALS   TURN   WHITE          63 

truth  of  Pennant's  statement,  that  the  fact  of  the  com- 
plete autumnal  change  of  the  coat  in  animals  that  turn 
white  in  winter  was  generally  recognised  by  naturalists.. 
So  far  as  #ie  spring  change  from  the  white  to  the  brown 
dress  is  concerned,  his  conclusions  are  fully  confirmed  by 
Capt.  G.  E.  H.  Barrett-Hamilton,  who  communicated  some 
interesting  notes  on  the  change  in  the  European  mountain 
or  variable  hare  to  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society 
of  London  for  1 899.  The  fact  that  the  vernal  colour-change 
is  due  to  the  shedding  of  the  coat  seems,  however,  as 
already  mentioned,  to  have  been  much  more  generally 
admitted  than  was  the  case  with  regard  to  the  autumnal 
transformation. 

Dr.  Allen  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  both  the  autumn 
and  the  spring  change  take  place  periodically  and  quite 
independently  of  the  will  of  the  animal,  and  also  that  they 
are  but  little  affected  by  phases  of  the  weather,  although 
they  may  be  somewhat  retarded  or  accelerated  by  the 
prevailing  atmospheric  temperature. 

So  far  as  the  fact  of  the  seasonal  change  being  normally 
beyond  the  control  of  the  animal  in  which  it  occurs,  Capt. 
Barrett-Hamilton  is  in  full  accord  with  the  American  writer ; 
but  he  goes  somewhat  further,  and  believes  that  it  is  quite 
uninfluenced  by  temperature,  or  at  least  by  such  variations 
of  the  same  as  may  be  met  with  in  different  parts  of  the 
area  of  the  British  Islands  ;  and,  as  we  all  know,  these  are 
considerable ! 

As  in  the  case  of  many  other  animals — deer,  for  instance 
— the  change  from  the  winter  to  the  summer  coat  takes 
place  very  late  in  the  season  in  the  mountain  hare  in 
Scotland,  specimens  undergoing  the  change  being  often 
seen  early  in  May.  But  the  date  of  the  spring  change 
is  no  earlier  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  where  the  climate 


64  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

is  much  milder,  although  the  amount  of  whiteness  assumed 
in  that  district  is  very  much  less  than  in  the  north.  This 
seems  to  demonstrate  the  contention  that  temperature  has 
little  or  no  influence  on  the  change,  so  far  as  season  is 
concerned. 

That  the  animal  has  no  control  over  the  change  from 
brown  to  white  in  autumn  seems  to  be  proved  by  instances 
referred  to  by  Capt.  Barrett-Hamilton,  "in  which  variable 
hares  transported  from  Scotland  and  from  Irish  mountains 
to  southern  and  low-lying  regions  continued  for  some 
seasons  to  appear  in  the  northern  garb  of  snowy  white- 
ness. This  persistence  of  the  habit  of  turning  white,  even 
in  unsuitable  [conditions,  together  with  the  lateness  of  the 
moult,  resulted  frequently  in  the  curious  spectacle  of  a 
mountain  hare  running  about  in  all  its  conspicuous  Arctic 
livery  under  the  bright  rays  of  an  April  or  May  sun. 
After  a  few  years  such  imported  hares,  or  more  probably 
their  offspring,  ceased  to  turn  completely  white,  and  the 
breed  assumed  the  appearance  of  the  ordinary  hares  of 
the  southern  locality  to  which  they  had  been  transported." 

It  would,  of  course,  be  extremely  interesting  to  ascertain 
whether  such  transported  individuals  ever  do  give  up  the 
practice  of  turning  white  in  winter,  or  whether  it  is  only 
their  offspring  that  do  so  ;  but,  in  any  case,  it  is  clearly 
demonstrated  that  the  habit  is  very  deep-seated  and  difficult 
to  overcome. 

Very  curious  is  the  circumstance  that  the  mode  in  which 
the  coat  is  changed  in  the  variable  hare  at  the  two  seasons 
of  the  year  differs  in  toto  as  regards  the  parts  of  the  animal 
first  affected.  On  this  subject,  with  one  verbal  change  in 
the  first  sentence,  I  quote  from  Dr.  Allen,  who  writes  as 
follows : — 

"  In  the  fall  the  change  begins  with  the  feet  and  ears, 


HOW  ARCTIC   ANIMALS   TURN   WHITE          65 

the  sides  of  the  nose  and  the  front  of  the  head,  which 
often  become  radically  changed  before  the  body  is  much 
affected ;  while  as  regards  the  body,  the  change  begins 
first  at  the  base  of  the  tail  and  extreme  posterior  part  of 
the  back,  and  at  the  ventral  border  of  the  sides  of  the 
body,  working  thence  upward  towards  the  middle  line  of 
the  back,  and  from  behind  anteriorly,  the  crown  of  the 
head  and  a  narrow  median  line  over  the  shoulders  and 
front  part  of  the  back  being  the  parts  last  changed.  In 
the  spring  the  order  of  change  is  exactly  the  reverse,  the 
moult  beginning  on  the  head  and  along  the  median  line 
of  the  anterior  half  of  the  dorsal  region,  extending  laterally 
and  gradually  to  the  ventral  border  of  the  sides  of  the 
body  and  posteriorly  to  the  rump,  and  then  later  to  the 
ears  and  down  the  limbs  to  the  feet,  which  are  the  parts 
last  affected,  and  which  often  remain  but  little  changed 
till  the  head  and  body  have  pretty  completely  assumed 
the  summer  dress." 

It  is  very  hard  indeed  to  conjecture  any  satisfactory 
reason  for  this  remarkable  difference. 

The  American  variable  hare  ranges,  at  ordinary  levels, 
about  as  far  south  as  Massachusetts — that  is  to  say,  nearly 
to  the  latitude  of  Madrid,  and  throughout  the  whole  of 
this  extensive  tract  it  turns  white  in  winter.  On  the  other 
hand,  owing  to  the  much  milder  climate  of  Western  Europe, 
no  colour-change  takes  place  in  the  mountain  hares  of 
Ireland,  while  it  is  reported  that  in  those  introduced  into 
Ayrshire  and  the  neighbouring  counties  of  south-western 
Scotland  the  change  is  much  less  complete  and  regular 
than  in  those  inhabiting  the  northern  parts  of  the 
country. 

An  impression  appears  to  be  prevalent  that  in  the  more 
northern  portion  of  their  range  both  the  mountain  hare  and 

5 


66  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  ermine  (or  stoat)  are  white  at  all  seasons,  but  this  does 
not  seem  to  be  authenticated. 

Observations  are  wanting  as  to  whether  the  changes  of 
coat  and  colour  in  the  mountain  hare  bear  any  relation 
to  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of  snow,  or  whether 
they  occur  regularly  at  the  same  season  of  the  year.  In 
the  case  of  the  ermine  in  the  Adirondack  region  of  New 
York,  Dr.  C.  H.  Merriam  tells  us  that  in  this  animal  the 
white  livery  is  assumed  only  after  the  first  fall  of  snow, 
while  the  resumption  of  the  brown  coat  does  not  take 
place  till  the  snow  begins  to  melt.  Unfortunately,  he 
says  nothing  in  regard  to  change  of  coat.  The  late 
Dr.  Coues  stated,  however,  that  in  the  case  of  the  ermine 
the  bi-annual  change  of  coat  takes  place  at  the  same 
season,  but  that  it  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the 
temperature  at  the  time  whether  the  new  coat  differs  in 
colour  from  its  predecessor.  In  other  words,  the  change 
from  brown  to  white  might  be  due  either  to  shedding  the 
coat  or  to  bleaching  of  the  hair  subsequent  to  such 
shedding.  The  case  of  the  mountain  hare  is,  however, 
strongly  suggestive  that  the  colour-change  is  in  all  instances 
coincident  with  the  shedding  of  the  coat. 

It  is,  of  course,  quite  evident  that  the  assumption  of  a 
white  winter  livery  by  mountain  hares  and  ermines  living 
in  regions  where  the  snow  lies  on  the  ground  for  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  year  is  for  the  purpose  of  rendering 
such  animals  as  inconspicuous  as  possible  when  in  their 
native  haunts.  And,  so  far  as  we  know,  such  a  change 
is  universal  among  the  species  named  when  dwelling  in 
high  northern  latitudes. 

There  is,  however,  another  animal  inhabiting  the  North 
Polar  regions  of  both  hemispheres  in  which  the  change 
to  a  pure  white  winter  dress  is  limited  to  certain  indi- 


From  photographs  by  the  Scholastic  Photographic  Agency.} 

ARCTIC  FOXES. 

The  lower  figure  shows  the  white  phase  in  winter  coat ;  the  upper  figure  is 
probably  the  same  phase  in  summer  dress  ;  the  central  figure  may  be  the  blue 
phase, 

[To  face  p.  66 


HOW  ARCTIC  ANIMALS  TURN   WHITE         67 

viduals.  The  species  in  question  is  the  Arctic  fox,  of 
which  the  beautiful  fur,  in  both  the  white  and  the  blue 
phase,  is,  as  mentioned  in  a  later  article,  now  much 
affected  by  ladies.  That  both  the  white  and  the  blue 
individuals  of  this  species  are  in  the  winter  dress  will 
be  evident  to  every  one  who  examines  such  furs  carefully, 
the  length  and  thickness  of  the  hair  being  quite  decisive 
on  this  point. 

With  the  single  exception  of  Iceland,  where  they  are 
always  blue,  it  appears  that  the  white  and  the  blue  phase 
are  met  with  throughout  the  habitat  of  the  species.  In 
other  words,  the  animal  is  "dimorphic,"  if  it  be  permis- 
sible to  apply  this  term  to  a  case  where  the  difference 
between  the  two  phases  of  a  species  is  restricted  to 
coloration. 

What  makes  the  matter  so  puzzling  is  this :  if  blue  foxes 
are  able  to  thrive  during  winter  in  a  snow-clad  country, 
what  necessity  is  there  for  their  fellows — and,  indeed,  for 
any  species — to  turn  white  at  that  season  of  the  year  ? 
An  explanation  of  the  case  of  the  blue  foxes  has  been 
attempted  in  the  article  already  referred  to. 

Since  the  present  article  was  written  important  additional 
information  with  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  hair 
bleaches  has  been  afforded  by  a  communication  from 
Mr.  E.  Metchnikoff,  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Society  for  1902.  It  is  there  stated  that  the  all- 
devouring  cells  known  as  phagocytes  are  the  cause  of 
the  mischief.  These  cells,  which  frequently  have  amoeba- 
like  processes,  are  developed  in  the  central  or  medullary 
part  of  the  hair,  whence  they  make  their  way  into  the 
outer  or  cortical  layer,  where  they  absorb,  and  thus  destroy, 
the  pigment-granules.  Numbers  of  these  phagocytes  may 
be  seen  in  hair  which  is  commencing  to  turn  white. 


68  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

"The  part  played  by  phagocytes,"  writes  the  author, 
"  in  the  whitening  of  the  hair  explains  many  phenomena 
observed  long  ago,  but  not  as  yet  sufficiently  understood." 
Thus  the  phenomenon  of  hair  turning  white  in  a  single 
night,  or  in  a  few  days,  may  be  explained  by  the  increased 
activity  of  the  phagocytes,  which  remove  the  pigment 
within  an  abnormally  short  period. 


A   LAND   OF   SKELETONS 

NEXT  to  Australia,  which,  as  regards  its  fauna,  stands  quite 
apart  from  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  South  America 
possesses  a  greater  number  of  peculiar  types  of  animals  than 
any  other  region  at  the  present  day.  A  traveller,  for 
instance,  starting  from  Europe  may  wander  eastwards  across 
the  northern  part  of  Asia  as  far  as  Japan  without  ceasing  to 
meet  with  types  of  mammals  and  birds  perfectly  familiar 
to  him,  while  the  same  is,  to  a  great  extent,  the  case  if 
his  footsteps  are  directed  to  India  or  Africa.  It  is  true, 
indeed,  that  in  both  the  latter  countries  he  will  come  across 
creatures  like  elephants  and  rhinoceroses,  which  are  now 
unknown  in  Europe,  while  in  Africa  he  will  be  confronted 
by  hippopotamuses,  giraffes,  okapis,  and  ostriches.  All 
these  animals,  however,  once  existed  in  Europe  during  the 
later  portions  of  geological  history,  and  may  accordingly  be 
counted  as  pertaining  to  the  European  fauna.  Still  more 
striking  is  this  similarity  of  the  fauna  with  that  of  Europe 
if  the  traveller's  route  happen  to  lie  across  the  northern 
half  of  the  New  World,  where  he  may  meet  with  many 
mammals,  such  as  the  bison,  Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  grizzly 
bear,  wapiti,  elk,  reindeer,  wolf,  and  fox,  more  or  less  closely 
allied  to  Old  World  forms.  On  the  other  hand,  when  South 
America  is  reached,  it  will  be  found  that  not  only  are  all 
the  mammals  and  birds  specifically  different  from  those  of 
Europe,  but  likewise  that  many  of  them  belong  to  genera 

69 


70  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

or  groups  absolutely  unknown  beyond  the  confines  of  that 
country,  while  Old  World  types  are  relatively  scarce.  For 
instance,  the  whole  of  the  typical  representatives  of  that 
group  of  mammals  technically  termed  edentates,  such  as 
armadillos,  ant-eaters,  and  sloths,  are  exclusively  confined 
to  South  and  Central  America ;  while  the  monkeys  of  that 
continent  are  quite  different  from  those  of  the  Old  World, 
and,  like  the  pretty  little  marmosets,  are  peculiar  to  the 
former  area.  The  camel-like  animals  known  as  guanacos 
and  vicunas,  together  with  their  domestic  representatives, 
the  llamas,  are  likewise  at  the  present  day  exclusively 
characteristic  of  South  America,  although  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  they  were  originally  introduced  from  the 
north.  Then,  again,  opossums  (which,  by  the  way,  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  creatures  commonly  so  called 
in  Australia)  are  among  the  most  characteristic  of  South 
American  mammals,  although  some  range  as  far  north  as 
the  United  States.  The  rodents,  or  gnawing  mammals, 
are  likewise  remarkable,  not  only  for  their  numerical 
abundance,  but  likewise  for  the  large  size  of  several  of 
their  members  which  belong  to  genera  peculiar  to  the 
continent.  Among  these  the  capivara  or  carpincho  (Hydro- 
choerus\  commonly  known  as  the  river-hog,  is  the  largest 
living  member  of  the  order,  its  skull  measuring  about  a 
foot  in  length.  Another  characteristic  aquatic  type  is  the 
coypu  (Myocasior),  generally  termed  by  Europeans  nutria 
(properly  the  Spanish  name  for  an  otter),  and  easily  recog- 
nised by  its  red  incisor  teeth.  Of  the  terrestrial  species 
the  most  familiar  is  the  viscacha,  which  inhabits  warrens, 
like  the  prairie  marmot  of  North  America,  with  which, 
however,  it  has  no  affinity. 

But  not  only  is  South  America  remarkable  for  the  number 
of  peculiar  types  of  mammals  it  contains,  but  it  is  likewise 


A   LAND   OF   SKELETONS  71 

noteworthy  for  the  absence  of  a  number  of  Old  World 
and  North  American  forms,  this  paucity  being  specially 
noticeable  •  among  the  ungulates  or  hoofed  mammals,  which 
are  represented  solely  by  the  aforesaid  guanaco  and  its 
allies,  by  a  group  of  deer  differing  considerably  from  all 
Old  World  species,  although  represented  in  North  America, 
and  by  several  species  of  tapirs — the  latter  animals  being  at 
the  present  day  known  elsewhere  only  by  a  solitary  kind  from 
the  Malay  region,  although  they  were  formerly  abundant 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  Old  World.  Consequently, 
such  well-known  and  important  groups  of  ungulates 
as  oxen,  goats,  sheep,  antelopes,  horses,  rhinoceroses, 
hippopotamuses,  and  elephants  are  totally  unknown  in  a  wild 
state  at  the  present  day  in  South  America,  although  two 
of  them — viz.,  horses  and  elephants — formerly  existed  there. 
Equally  characteristic  are  the  birds  of  South  America. 
Although  it  is  only  possible  here  to  make  allusion  to 
a  few  among  these,  I  may  especially  mention  the  entire 
group  of  humming-birds,  together  with  a  peculiar  family 
of  perching  birds  commonly  known  as  wood-hewers,  and 
technically  as  the  Dendrocolaptidae,  of  which  the  well-known 
oven-bird  (so  called  on  account  of  its  dome-shaped  mud 
nest)  is  a  familiar  example.  The  large  gallinaceous  birds 
termed  curassows  and  guans  are  also  very  characteristic, 
while  still  more  distinctive  of  the  country  are  the  tinamus, 
which,  although  structurally  allied  to  the  ostriches,  are  so 
like  partridges  in  form  and  habits  that  by  English  residents 
in  the  country  they  are  universally  so  termed.  Another 
characteristic  South  American  bird  commonly  misnamed 
by  Europeans  is  the  rhea,  this  bird,  which  is  almost  always 
designated  an  ostrich,  differing  from  its  African  relative 
by  having  three  toes  instead  of  two.  Yet  another  remark- 
able avian  type  is  to  be  found  in  the  large  and  somewhat 


72  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

goose-like  chaja  (pronounced  chaha),  or  horned  screamer, 
which  takes  its  English  name  from  the  spur  on  its  wing 
and  its  loud  cry,  the  latter  being  sometimes  heard  when 
the  bird  is  so  high  in  the  air  as  to  be  almost  or  quite 
invisible.  The  long-legged  seriema,  which  stalks  over  the 
plains  in  the  manner  of  the  African  secretary-bird,  is 
like-wise  a  very  characteristic  type.  Among  characteristic 
South  American  reptiles  may  be  mentioned  iguanas  (a 
name  often  applied  incorrectly  to  lizards  from  other  parts 
of  the  world)  and  caimans ;  the  latter  being  a  group  of 
alligators  distinguished  by  having  an  armour  of  bony 
plates  on  the  under  as  well  as  on  the  upper  surface  of 
the  body.  The  huge  horned  frogs  (Ceratophrys)  are  like- 
wise distinctive  of  the  country  among  the  batrachians. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  leading  features  of  the  existing 
fauna  of  South  America,  which  are  sufficient  to  show  how 
totally  different  is  the  animal  life  of  this  country  from 
that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  If,  however,  we  go  back 
to  the  later  geological  periods  of  the  earth's  history,  we 
shall  find  that  this  peculiarity  and  distinctness  of  the 
South  American  fauna  was  even  more  intensified  than  at 
the  present  day,  this  being  largely  due  to  the  circumstance 
that  at  one  time  the  isthmus  of  Darien  seems  not  to  have 
existed,  so  that  the  northern  and  southern  portions  of  the 
New  World  were  disconnected.  Since  the  time  when  a 
connection  was  formed  between  the  two  continents,  their 
faunas  have,  however,  naturally  tended  to  blend  together, 
and  hence  at  the  present  day,  and  during  the  Pleistocene 
period,  the  animals  of  South  America  are  less  sharply 
differentiated  from  those  of  the  northern  half  of  the  con- 
tinent than  would  have  been  the  case  had  the  isthmus 
of  Darien  not  been  formed.  It  is  further  interesting  to 
note  that  during  the  Tertiary  period  there  appears  to  have 


A   LAND   OF   SKELETONS  73 

been  some  kind  of  connection  between  the  faunas  of  South 
America  and  Australia. 

The  country  that  has  afforded  the  most  information  with 
regard  to  the  extinct  fauna  of  South  America  is  the  Argen- 
tine  Republic,  which  includes  not  only  Buenos  Aires  and 
the  adjacent  provinces  forming  Argentine  proper,  but  like- 
wise the  whole  of  Patagonia.     Confining  our  attention,  in 
the  first  place,  to  the  province  of  Buenos  Aires  and  some 
of  the  neighbouring  districts,  we  may  note  that  the  greater 
part  of  this  vast  tract  of  country  is  one    boundless  level 
plain    formed    by   an   alluvial    deposit    of    rich    black    mud 
brought  down  from  the  higher  lands  of  the  interior  by  the 
tributaries  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  constituting  the  most 
extensive   pasture-land  in   the   world.     Near  Buenos  Aires 
and  the  valley  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  this  alluvial  deposit, 
which  in  places  alternates  with  sandy  beds,  is  of  immense 
thickness ;  *  but  farther  to   the  south  it  thins  out  rapidly. 
In   some  places  in  the  neighbourhood  of  La  Colina,  about 
a  hundred  miles  from  Bahia  Blanca,  for  instance,  the  black 
soil  is  not  more  than  a  couple  of  feet   in  thickness,  and 
is   underlain   by   a  hard   white    calcareous   deposit,    locally 
known    as    "  tosca,"    and    much    resembling   some   of  the 
deposits   formed   by  hot  springs.f     That  the  black  alluvial 
deposit,  which,  from  forming  the  whole  of  the  Pampas,  or 
plain    country,    is    known    to    geologists    as    the    Pampean 
formation,  is  of  fresh-water  origin  is  perfectly  clear,  and  it 
is   probable    that   it   was    largely    formed   in    marshes   and 
swamps,   one  of  its  most  striking  features  being  the   total 
absence    of    pebbles   or    stones.       Indeed,    throughout   the 
country,    except  in    the   neighbourhood    of  the   mountains, 

*  Near  Buenos  Aires  it  has  been  bored  into  for  depths  of  fifty 
and  ninety  feet. 

t  At  Buenos  Aires  the  alluvial  deposit  itself  is  called  "tosca." 


74  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

there  is  not  a  vestige  of  rock  or  stone  to  be  seen,  unless 
it  be  in  the  few  places  where  the  aforesaid  "  tosca  "  has 
been  brought  to  the  surface.  In  spite  of  its  fresh-water 
origin,  there  is,  however,  evidence  that  portions  of  the 
Pampean  formation  have  been  submerged  beneath  the  sea. 
For  instance,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city  of  La  Plata 
there  occurs  a  bed  of  marine  shells  overlying  the  alluvial 
mud,  all  the  species  of  molluscs  being  now  found  living 
in  the  Bay  of  Monte  Video.  I  have  also  observed  a 
similar  bed  at  Santa  Lucia,  in  the  Banda  Oriental,  at  an 
elevation  of  about  one  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  which 
was  overlain  by  a  considerable  thickness  of  sands ;  and 
the  same  deposit  occurs  far  inland,  at  the  town  of  Parana. 
From  these  data  it  may  be  inferred  that  after  the  temporary 
subsidence  of  the  Pampas,  during  which  the  marine  beds 
were  deposited,  there  has  been  a  considerable  elevation 
(which  is  probably  still  going  on)  of  the  whole  country ; 
and  that  these  movements  have  taken  place  at  a  very  recent 
epoch  indeed. 

At  the  present  day  the  Argentine  Pampas,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  willows  along  the  river  courses,  is 
practically  destitute  of  trees  (save  where  they  have  of  late 
years  been  planted  around  the  various  settlements),  and 
forms  a  boundless  sea  of  grass,  relieved  here  and  there  by 
tussocks  of  the  tall  Pampas-grass,  or  giant  thistles,  and 
adorned  in  spring  with  scarlet  verbena  and  other  bright- 
hued  flowers.  Till  the  introduction  of  the  countless  herds 
of  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep,  which  now  roam  over  its 
extent,  this  vast  tract  of  country  was  tenanted  by  the 
guanaco,  the  Pampas-deer,  the  viscacha,  and  the  rhea, 
which,  with  the  exception  of  certain  carnivores,  were 
almost  the  only  animals  of  any  size  to  be  found  throughout 
its  length  and  breadth. 


A   LAND   OF  SKELETONS  75 

The  rich  black  alluvial  mud  of  the  Pampas,  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  is  entirely  of  fresh-water  origin,  is,  how- 
ever, the';  tomb  of  thousands,  if  not  millions,  of  the 
skeletons  and  bones  of  a  host  of  extinct  animals,  which 
tell  us  that  the  country  was  once  inhabited  by  a  fauna 
stranger  than  that  found  in  any  other  part  of  the  world  at 
any  epoch  of  its  history.  While  many  of  these  extinct 
creatures  were  allied  to  the  existing  South  American 
mammals,  although  of  vastly  greater  bodily  size,  others,  of 
equally  gigantic  dimensions,  were  quite  unlike  all  known 
animals,  either  living  or  extinct.  As  some  of  these  extinct 
mammals  are  noticed  in  the  next  article,  I  make  but  brief 
mention  of  them  here.  It  may  be  observed,  however,  that, 
while  the  gigantic  glyptodons  were  the  representatives  of 
the  diminutive  armadillos  of  to-day  (although  some  of  the 
latter  flourished  side  by  side  with  their  huge  cousins), 
the  megalothere,  which  rivalled  an  elephant  in  bulk,  together 
with  its  allies  the  mylodons,  were  akin  both  to  the  sloths 
and  the  ant-eaters  of  Brazil,  and  as  they  were  certainly 
terrestrial  in  habits,  they  are  called  ground-sloths.  From 
the  structure  of  these  animals,  which  were  evidently  adapted 
to  sit  up  on  their  massive  haunches  and  tear  down  the 
branches  of  trees  with  their  powerful  front  claws,  it  may 
be  inferred  that  the  physical  features  of  this  part  of 
Argentina  were  once  very  different  from  what  they 
are  at  present,  and  that  in  place  of  continuous  tracts  of 
unbroken  grassy  plain  there  were  probably  large  areas 
of  forest-land,  as  in  Brazil  at  the  present  day.  In  these 
forest  tracts  probably  wandered  the  two  species  of  mas- 
todons which  were  the  contemporaries  of  the  ground- 
sloths  ;  but  the  existence  at  the  same  time  of  several 
species  of  horses  (some  closely  akin  to  living  species, 
while  others  were  markedly  distinct)  seems  to  point  to 


76  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  presence  of  grassy  plains  alternating  with  the  forest. 
The  same  is  probably  indicated  by  the  numerous  species 
allied  to  the  guanaco,  which  flourished  at  the  same  time, 
and  some  of  which  attained  the  dimensions  of  a  camel, 
while  the  various  kinds  of  deer  may  also  have  inhabited 
the  same  regions.  The  gigantic  hoofed  mammal  known 
as  the  Toxodon,  which  had  ever-growing  teeth  like  those 
of  a  rodent,  was,  however,  probably  an  inhabitant  of  swamps 
and  marshes,  while  the  still  more  extraordinary  Macrau- 
chenia,  with  its  slender,  camel-like  neck  and  long,  three- 
toed  limbs,  probably  stalked  over  the  plains,  cropping  here 
and  there  the  foliage  from  some  tree  or  copse.  Rodents 
nearly  related  to  existing  South  American  types  were 
likewise  common,  and  there  were  also  certain  large  carni- 
vores, such  as  a  species  of  sabre-toothed  tiger  and  a  huge 
bear-like  creature.  With  the  exception  of  these  carnivores, 
together  with  the  guanacos,  horses,  deer,  and  mastodons, 
which  are  unknown  in  the  older  formations,  and  are  there- 
fore probably  late  immigrants  from  the  north,  all  the  animals 
of  the  Pampean  formation  are  peculiar  to  South  America. 
A  further  distinctive  feature  of  this  fauna  is  the  large  bodily 
size  attained  by  so  many  of  its  representatives,  this  being 
especially  the  case  with  the  glyptodons,  mylodons,  megalo- 
theres,  guanacos,  mastodons,  macrauchenias,  and  toxodons, 
all  of  which  would  come  under  the  designation  of  giant 
animals.  In  this  respect  the  Pampean  fauna  corresponds 
with  that  of  the  Pleistocene  period  of  Europe,  with  which 
it  also  agrees  approximately  in  age,  seeing  that  there  is 
evidence  of  the  contemporaneous  existence  of  man  with 
several  of  the  extinct  mammals. 

In  certain  parts  of  the  Pampean  formation  the  remains 
of  these  animals  occur  in  extraordinary  profusion,  and 
generally  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation.  At  times  they 


A   LAND   OF  SKELETONS  77 

are  found  sticking  out  from  the  perpendicular  cliffs,  or 
barancas,  bordering  the  river-valleys,  while  many  are  met 
with  in  sinking  wells  or  making  other  excavations.  In 
well-digging,  of  course,  only  a  portion  of  a  skeleton  is 
obtained  in  the  case  of  a  large  animal,  which  is  the  cause 
of  the  imperfect  condition  of  many  specimens  in  European 
museums,  and  it  is  only  when  excavations  like  those 
during  the  construction  of  the  docks  at  La  Plata  or  Buenos 
Aires  are  made,  that  entire  skeletons  are  obtained,  unless, 
indeed,  special  works  are  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  fossils.  It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  the 
remains  are  at  all  evenly  distributed  through  the  mud  of 
the  Pampas,  some  localities  being  much  richer  than  others, 
among  these  Lujan  (pronounced  Luhan),  near  Buenos  Aires, 
being  especially  notable. 

Although  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons 
contains  an  entire  skeleton  of  a  megalothere,  together  with 
the  shell  of  a  glyptodon,  while  the  British  Museum  is  the 
fortunate  possessor  of  a  complete  specimen  of  a  mylodon, 
the  museums  of  Europe  afford  a  very  poor  idea  of  the 
number  and  beautiful  preservation  of  these  marvellous 
fossils.  To  gain  any  idea  of  the  true  state  of  the  case 
it  is  necessary  to  visit  the  museums  of  Buenos  Aires  and 
La  Plata,  and  more  especially  the  latter.  There  the  visitor 
will  be  absolutely  lost  in  astonishment  at  the  long  array 
of  perfect  mounted  skeletons  of  numbers  of  these  creatures, 
while  the  unmounted  skeletons  and  isolated  bones  displayed 
in  the  wall-cases  will  convince  him  that  I  am  not 
exaggerating  when  I  call  Argentina  a  land  of  skeletons. 

That  the  animals  I  have  spoken  of  should  have  died  off 
one  after  another  through  the  long  ages  during  which  the 
mud  of  the  Pampas  was  accumulating,  is  in  accordance 
with  what  we  should  expect  to  occur,  while  the  perfection 


78  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

of  their  preservation  is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the 
nature  of  the  deposit  itself.  The  marvel,  however,  is  in 
regard  to  the  total  disappearance  of  the  whole  of  the  larger 
forms  and  the  reduction  of  the  fauna  of  the  Pampas  to  its 
present  condition,  together  with  the  concomitant  loss  of 
the  forests.  It  is  not  that  the  country  is  unsuited  at  the 
present  day  to  the  existence  of  the  larger  types  of  animal 
life,  as  witness  the  countless  herds  of  horses  and  cattle 
with  which  its  plains  are  now  covered,  together  with  the 
luxuriance  and  rapidity  with  which  many  kinds  of  trees 
flourish  when  introduced.  Neither,  I  think,  can  it  be  due 
to  a  glacial  epoch  (although  there  appears  to  be  evidence 
of  the  prevalence  of  a  cold  period  in  Patagonia),  since  any 
glaciation  of  the  Pampas  would  have  assuredly  removed  the 
greater  part  of  the  alluvial  formation,  besides  having  left 
indisputable  evidence  of  its  presence.  Man  can  scarcely 
be  credited  with  the  extinction  of  either  the  fauna  or  the 
flora.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  number  of  guanaco 
with  which  the  country  was  overrun  previous  to  European 
settlement  may  have  caused  the  destruction  of  the  forests ; 
but  we  must  remember  that  similar  animals  existed  in 
greater  variety  during  the  Pampean  period,  while  even  if 
the  disappearance  of  trees  were  due  to  their  agency,  this 
would  have  had  no  effect  on  plain-loving  forms  like  horses. 
That  the  disappearance  of  the  latter  animals  may  have  been 
due  to  the  number  of  pumas  is  another  suggestion,  but  it 
will  be  obvious  that  this  could  have  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  destruction  of  gigantic  creatures  like  the  glyptodons 
and  ground-sloths.  The  problem  is  further  complicated 
by  the  circumstance  that  the  remains  of  many  of  these 
creatures  occur  in  caverns  in  the  interior  of  Brazil,  where 
the  climate  is  still,  and  probably  always  has  been,  tropical. 
It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  we  must  be  content  to  regard 


A   LAND   OF   SKELETONS  79 

the  depletion  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of  Argentina  as  one 
of  the  unsolved  problems  of  science. 

In  regard  to  other  formations,  it  must  suffice  to  say  that 
at  Parana,  and  also  on  the  coast  at  Monte  Hermoso,  near 
Bahia  Blanca,  there  occur  certain  Tertiary  deposits  which 
are  evidently  somewhat  older  than  the  Pampean  beds, 
although  containing  a  closely  allied  fauna.  The  most 
interesting  feature  connected  with  this  formation  (which 
may  probably  be  correlated  with  the  upper  Pliocene  of 
Europe)  is  that  the  mammals  are  for  the  most  part  of 
smaller  size  than  their  relatives  of  the  Pampean,  this  being 
especially  shown  by  the  glyptodons;  and  by  those  ground- 
sloths  known  as  scelidotheres,  which  are  near  allies  of  the 
mylodons.  When  we  reach  the  still  older  beds  of  Santa 
Cruz,  in  Patagonia,  which  are  probably  of  Miocene  age,  we 
find  not  only  this  diminution  in  the  size  of  the  mammals 
still  more  marked,  but  we  likewise  notice  the  disappearance 
of  all  the  northern  forms,  such  as  deer,  horses,  guanacos, 
and  mastodons,  thus  showing  that  we  have  reached  the 
period  when  South  America  was  disconnected  from  the 
northern  half  of  the  continent,  and  possessed  an  absolutely 
peculiar  fauna.  Instead  of  glyptodons  with  a  shell  of  eight 
or  ten  feet  in  length,  we  meet  with  species  in  which  the 
carapace  did  not  measure  more  than  a  yard ;  while  in  place 
of  mylodons  bigger  than  a  rhinoceros  we  are  confronted  with 
a  species  not  so  large  as  a  Highland  sheep.  The  camel-like 
Macrauchenia  was  likewise  represented  by  several  much 
smaller  allies,  while  the  various  species  of  Nesodon,  which 
represented  the  gigantic  Toxodon  of  the  Pampean,  were  either 
small  or  moderate-sized  animals.  Somewhat  curiously,  there 
were,  however,  several  kinds  of  gigantic  flightless  birds, 
which  are  quite  unknown  in  the  higher  beds,  and  appear 
to  have  been  allied  to  the  existing  seriema  of  Brazil. 


SOME  EXTINCT  ARGENTINE  MAMMALS 

IN  the  preceding  article  I  brought  under  the  notice  of  the 
reader  some  of  the  leading  peculiarities  of  the  living  and 
extinct  faunas  of  South  America  in  general  and  of  Argentina 
in  particular,  while  something  was  said  as  to  the  geological 
features  of  the  latter  country.  I  now  propose  to  take  into 
consideration  the  leading  features  of  a  few  of  the  more 
remarkable  types  of  certain  groups.  As  most  of  these  animals 
are  known  solely  by  their  bones,  it  is,  of  course,  impossible 
to  avoid  the  introduction  of  a  certain  amount  of  anatomical 
details,  although  I  have  endeavoured  to  put  these  in  as 
popular  a  manner  as  possible. 

As  mentioned  in  the  last  article,  among  all  the  fossil 
animals  of  Argentina  some  of  the  most  remarkable  are  the 
extinct  ungulates,  or  hoofed  mammals,  which,  exclusive  of 
the  horses,  deer,  guanacos,  and  mastodons,  belong  to  groups 
almost  unknown  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.*  Before 
going  further,  I  must,  however,  remind  my  readers  that 
existing  ungulates  are  divided  into  four  groups  or  sub- 
orders, distinguished  from  one  another  by  the  structure 
of  their  feet.  Of  these  the  elephants,  or  proboscideans,  are 
specially  characterised  by  having  five  toes  to  each  foot, 
and  by  the  two  rows  of  bones  in  the  wrist  and  ankle 
being  arranged  one  above  another  in  a  linear  manner ; 

*  During  the  Pleistocene  period  a  few  ground-sloths  and  glyptodons 
entered  North  America. 

80 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS        81 

while  the  huckle-bone,  or  astragalus,  of  the  ankle  articulates 
with  the  leg-bone  by  a  flat  surface.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  both  the  odd-toed  or  perissodactyle  ungulates,  as  repre- 
sented by  the  rhinoceros  and  horse,  and  the  even-toed  or 
artiodactyle  group  of  the  order,  of  which  we  have  familiar 
examples  in  the  pig  and  the  deer,  the  toes  are  never  more 
than  four  in  number,  the  bones  of  the  wrist  and  ankle 
interlock  or  alternate,  and  the  huckle-bone  has  a  pulley- 
like  surface  for  articulation  with  the  large  bone  of  the  leg. 
Whereas,  however,  in  the  former  of  these  two  groups  the 
middle  toe  is  larger  than  either  of  the  others  and  sym- 
metrical in  itself,  in  the  second  group  it  is  the  two  toes 
corresponding  to  the  second  and  third  of  the  human  foot 
which  are  larger  than  the  others,  while  they  are  also 
symmetrical  to  a  line  drawn  between  them.  There  is  like- 
wise a  well-marked  difference  between  the  huckle-bones  of 
the  two  groups.  The  fourth  group,  represented  only  by 
the  various  species  of  hyrax — the  coney  of  Scripture — need 
not  detain  us  here. 

Turning  to  the  proper  subject  of  this  article,  I  com- 
mence my  notice  with  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Argentine 
mammals,  which  derives  its  name  of  Toxodon  from  the 
peculiarly  curved  or  bow-like  form  of  its  long  molar-teeth. 
This  gigantic  animal,  which  rivalled  the  large  Indian 
rhinoceros  in  size,  is  remarkable  for  the  peculiar  lowness 
of  the  forequarters,  in  consequence  of  which  the  enormous 
head  is  carried  much  below  the  line  of  the  back.  Since 
the  creature  has  much  the  general  appearance  of  a  rhino- 
ceros, as  shown  by  its  relatively  short  and  stout  neck  and 
limbs,  while  the  number  of  toes  to  each  limb  is  three,  of 
which  the  middle  one  is  symmetrical  in  itself,  an  observer 
might,  at  first  sight,  be  disposed  to  place  the  toxodon 
among  the  odd-toed  ungulates.  A  closer  examination 

6 


82  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

would,  however,  show  that  while  the  middle  toe  is  not 
markedly  larger  than  either  of  the  others,  the  bones  of  the 
wrist  are  arranged  on  the  linear  plan,  while  in  the  ankle 
the  upper  surface  of  the  huckle-bone  is  nearly  flat,  or 
intermediate  between  that  of  the  elephants  and  the  odd- 
toed  ungulates.  Omitting  mention  of  certain  other  minor 
peculiarities  in  the  structure  of  the  limbs,  if  we  now  turn 
our  attention  to  the  teeth,  we  shall  see  that  these  also 
present  features  unknown  in  any  living  ungulates.  We 
find,  for  instance,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  upper  jaw  is 
furnished  with  two  pairs  of  permanently  growing  chisel- 
like  teeth,  comparable  to  the  single  pair  of  incisors  in  the 
rodents  or  gnawing  mammals  ;  these  being  opposed  by 
three  pairs  of  nearly  similar,  although  horizontally  placed, 
lower  teeth.  Such  permanently  growing  incisor-teeth  are 
paralleled  among  existing  ungulates  in  the  hyrax,  but  the 
toxodon  stands  alone  in  the  order  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  cheek-teeth  likewise  grow  throughout  life,  instead 
of  forming  roots.  Here,  then,  we  have  another  point  of 
resemblance  in  the  toxodon  to  the  rodent  order.  When 
we  examine  the  form  of  the  grinding  surface  of  these 
cheek-teeth,  there  does  not  appear  any  marked  resemblance 
to  those  of  any  existing  ungulates.  The  link  is,  however, 
furnished  by  certain  allied  forms  from  the  older  Ter- 
tiary beds  of  Patagonia,  known  by  the  name  of  Nesodon, 
of  which  the  first  fragmentary  remains  were  brought  to 
Europe  by  Darwin,  in  the  Beagle ;  the  toxodon  being 
confined  to  the  Pampean  deposits  and  the  underlying  beds 
of  Monte  Hermoso.  Now,  in  the  nesodons,  the  structure 
of  the  cheek-teeth  clearly  approximates  to  that  character- 
ising the  odd-toed  ungulates,  although  belonging  to  what 
naturalists  term  a  more  specialised  type.  It  is  further 
noteworthy  that  in  these  nesodons,  although  the  cheek- 


SOME   EXTINCT  ARGENTINE   MAMMALS         83 

teeth  grow  for  a  considerable  portion  of  life,  yet  they 
eventually  form  roots  in  the  ordinary  manner;  the  same 
being  true  of  the  incisors,  with  the  exception  of  a  single 
pair,  which  grow  permanently.  We  see,  therefore,  that  the 
permanently  growing  teeth  of  the  toxodon  are  a  specialised 
feature,  and  the  older  genus  shows  that  these  animals 
are  clearly  allied  to  the  odd-toed  ungulates,  although 
sharply  distinguished  by  the  structure  of  the  feet.  Indeed, 
since  their  feet  are  of  a  more  generalised  type  than  those 
of  the  latter  (as  is  especially  shown  by  the  almost  flat 
huckle-bone),  while  their  teeth  are  more  specialised,  it  is 
evident  that  neither  group  can  be  ancestral  to  the  other. 
Hence  the  toxodon  and  its  allies  may  be  regarded  as 
forming  a  separate  group  of  equal  value  with  the  other 
subdivisions  of  the  great  ungulate  order.  When  these  re- 
markable creatures  branched  off  from  the  primitive  ancestral 
types  of  the  latter,  and  how  they  first  obtained  an  entrance 
into  South  America,  where  they  gradually  increased  in 
size  and  specialisation  till  the  period  of  the  Pampean,  when 
they  finally  disappeared,  are  still  unsolved  problems. 

The  interest  of  the  toxodons  does  not,  however,  by  any 
means  end  here.  Although,  as  we  have  seen,  the  toxodon 
itself  shows  certain  resemblances  to  rodents  in  the  structure 
of  its  teeth,  it  will  be  evident  that  such  resemblances  indi- 
cate no  genetic  affinity  between  the  two  groups,  since 
rodents  are  neither  the  ancestors  nor  the  descendants  of 
the  toxodons.  In  a  much  smaller  animal,  known  as  the 
typotherium,  these  rodent  resemblances  are  still  more 
pronounced,  as  is  especially  shown  by  the  incisor-teeth, 
which  are  essentially  those  of  a  rodent.  Moreover,  in  the 
hind-feet  the  toes  have  lost  the  hoofs  characterising  the 
more  typical  ungulates,  and  were  probably  protected  by 
small  nails.  A  still  further  step  is  exhibited  by  a  much 


84  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

smaller  Argentine  mammal,  of  the  approximate  size  of  a 
hare,  named  Pachyrucus.  If  it  were  not  for  the  intermediate 
links,  this  creature  would  almost  certainly  be  put  down  as 
a  rodent,  with  which  group  it  agrees  in  the  structure  of 
its  teeth  and  toes,  as  well  as  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
skeleton.  Nevertheless,  it  is  clearly  a  near  ally  of  the 
typotherium,  and  therefore  a  member  of  the  toxodon  group. 
Here,  then,  we  have  one  of  the  most  remarkable  instances 
of  the  phenomenon  of  parallelism  in  development.  We 
have,  in  fact,  displayed  before  us  the  origin  of  what  we 
may  call  a  rodent-ungulate  :  that  is  to  say,  an  animal 
which,  while  certainly  an  ungulate  by  descent,  has  acquired 
such  a  marked  resemblance  to  a  rodent  that,  if  we  had  not 
the  intermediate  links,  it  might  be  regarded  as  a  member 
of  the  same  order.  This  instance  gives  us  some  insight 
into  the  intricacies  of  evolution,  and  serves  to  show  the 
amount  of  value  attaching  to  many  phylogenies  of  the 
animal  kingdom. 

In  addition  to  the  slightly  grooved  huckle-bone,  the 
toxodon  group  is  characterised  by  at  least  one  of  the  upper 
incisor-teeth  growing  throughout  life,  and  by  the  cheek- 
teeth being  either  rootless  or  not  forming  roots  till  very 
late.  There  is,  however  a  second  group  of  allied  extinct 
ungulates  peculiar  to  the  Argentine  in  which  all  the  molars 
are  rooted  at  the  usual  period,  while  the  huckle-bone  is  as 
flat  as  in  the  elephants,  although  of  somewhat  different 
form.  This  group  is  represented  solely  by  two  genera, 
both  of  which  are  confined  to  the  Patagonian  deposits, 
where  they  are  represented  by  animals  rivalling  rhinoceroses 
in  size,  and  furnished  with  molar-teeth  somewhat  resembling 
those  of  the  latter.  One  of  these  creatures,  on  which  the 
name  of  Homalodontotherium  has  been  conferred,  presents 
the  rare  peculiarity  of  having  the  teeth  arranged  in  a 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS        85 

regular  even  series  without  gap  or  interval,  and  with 
their  crowns  of  equal  height.  Very  different  in  dental 
character  are  the  members  of  the  allied  genus  Astra- 
potherium,  in  which  each  jaw  was  furnished  with  a  huge 
pair  of  tusks,  those  of  the  lower  jaw  curving  outwards 
and  upwards  after  the  manner  of  those  of  a  wild  boar, 
while  both  were  kept  sharp  and  keen  by  their  points 
wearing  against  one  another.  In  the  presence  of  these 
enormous  upper  tusks,  the  astrapotheres  resembled  the 
extinct  uintatheres  of  North  America,  although  they  differed 
in  the  possession  of  tusks  in  the  lower  jaw,  while  it  is 
probable  that  those  of  the  upper  jaw  were  incisors  instead 
of  canines.  One  of  the  most  curious  features  connected 
with  these  animals  is  the  close  resemblance  of  their  upper 
cheek-teeth  to  those  of  rhinoceroses,  the  similarity  being 
so  marked  that  if  we  were  acquainted  with  the  South 
American  animal  only  by  these  teeth,  it  would  probably 
be  classed  with  the  rhinoceroses.  From  the  structure  of 
the  bones  of  the  ankle  it  is,  however,  quite  certain  that 
these  two  groups  of  ungulates  have  no  direct  connection 
with  one  another,  and  that  their  common  ancestor  had 
teeth  of  a  much  simpler  type  of  structure.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  the  form  of  cheek-teeth  characterising  both 
the  astrapotheres  and  the  rhinoceroses  has  been  evolved 
independently  in  the  two  groups,  and  that  we  have  con- 
sequently here  another  case  of  parallelism.  Although  this 
type  of  tooth  (which,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  one  of 
considerable  complexity)  is  admirably  adapted  for  crushing 
vegetable  substances,  it  is  by  no  means  the  only  one  which 
could  have  been  evolved  from  what  we  may  probably  regard 
as  the  primitive  type,  and  it  is  therefore  difficult  to  see  how 
it  can  have  been  produced  by  evolution  unaccompanied 
by  design. 


86  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Strange  as  are  the  foregoing  creatures,  they  are  exceeded 
in  this  respect  by  the  long-necked  and  long-limbed  animal 
named  Macrauchenia  (on  account  of  the  elongation  of  the 
vertebrae  of  the  neck),  specimens  of  which  were  first 
brought  back  by  Darwin  from  the  superficial  deposits  of 
Patagonia.  In  general  form  the  macrauchenia  somewhat 
recalls  a  camel;  and  it  is  a  curious  circumstance  that,  in 
common  with  that  animal  and  its  allies,  it  differs  from  all 
other  ungulates,  with  the  exception  of  certain  kindred 
Argentine  forms,  in  that  the  arteries  of  the  neck  pierce 
the  sides  of  the  vertebrae  to  take  a  course  within  the 
spinal  canal,  instead  of  passing  merely  through  a  loop  of 
bone  on  the  exterior.  This  remarkable  resemblance  is  not, 
however,  indicative  of  any  affinity  between  the  two  animals, 
since,  if  we  look  at  the  feet  of  the  macrauchenia,  we  shall 
find  that  they  are  of  the  odd-toed  type,  and  each  furnished 
with  three  digits.  Moreover,  the  huckle-bone  has  the 
pulley-like  upper  surface  characterising  the  odd-toed  ungu- 
lates; and  as  the  teeth  approximate  to  those  of  the  latter, 
we  might  be  inclined  to  place  the  creature  in  that  group. 
The  wrist-  and  ankle-joints  are,  however,  formed  on  the 
linear  plan,  and  exhibit  certain  other  departures  from  the 
odd-toed  type,  and  it  is  therefore  evident  that  the  macrau- 
chenia and  its  allies  constitute  a  third  group  of  extinct 
ungulates  peculiar  to  South  America.  Although  it  is  by 
foot-structure  that  the  macrauchenia  is  separated  from  all 
other  members  of  the  order,  its  most  remarkable  peculiarity 
is  to  be  found  in  the  structure  of  its  skull.  In  an  ordinary 
mammal  the  aperture  of  the  nose  is  situated  quite  at  the 
anterior  extremity  of  the  skull.  In  the  macrauchenia,  on 
the  other  hand,  this  aperture  forms  an  egg-shaped  vacuity 
in  the  forehead,  almost  between  the  eyes.  Some  approxi- 
mation to  this  remarkable  arrangement  is  presented  by 


SOME   EXTINCT  ARGENTINE   MAMMALS        87 

the  living  tapirs,  but  it  is  more  nearly  paralleled  by  the 
elephants,  and  still  more  closely  by  the  aquatic  dugong,  while 
among  whales  the  backwardation  (if  I  may  coin  a  word) 
of  the  nostrils  is  carried  to  a  still  greater  degree.  That 
a  land  mammal  with  its  nostrils  situated  in  this  unusual 
position  could  not  have  managed  to  exist  without  a  trunk 
seems  evident,  and  we  may  therefore  conclude  that  the 
macrauchenia  was  so  furnished;  while,  from  its  long 
slender  neck  and  limbs,  it  may  further  be  inferred  that 
it  was  an  inhabitant  of  open  plains  or  thin  forest,  and 
was  not  a  frequenter  of  marshes  and  swamps.  It  may  be 
added  that  in  its  uninterrupted  and  even  series  of  teeth 
the  macrauchenia  differs  from  all  existing  mammals  save 
man,  and  agrees  with  its  distant  cousin,  the  homalodonto- 
there. 

From  its  large  size,  the  peculiar  position  of  its  nostrils, 
and  the  characters  of  its  cheek-teeth,  the  naturalist  is  led 
to  infer  that  the  macrauchenia  was  a  highly  specialised 
creature ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  this  inference 
is  converted  into  a  certainty  by  the  existence  of  certain 
kindred  forms  in  the  older  formations  of  the  Parana  and 
Patagonia,  which  are  evidently  the  ancestral  types  from 
which  the  Pampean  genus  has  originated.  All  these  crea- 
tures were  of  relatively  small  size,  with  cheek-teeth  more 
closely  resembling  those  of  the  odd-toed  ungulates,  and 
they  show  a  gradual  transition  in  regard  to  the  position 
of  the  nostrils  from  the  type  of  the  macrauchenia  to  the 
ordinary  form.  The  evolution  of  such  an  extraordinary 
creature  as  the  one  under  consideration  is  therefore  fully 
explained,  although  we  have  yet  to  learn  the  special  reason 
for  the  peculiar  position  of  its  nostrils  and  the  development 
of  a  trunk. 

More    or   less    intimately  allied    to   the  ancestors  of  the 


88  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

macrauchenia  were  certain  contemporaneous  ungulates  from 
Patagonia,  of  which  the  largest  did  not  exceed  a  tapir  in 
size.  With  cheek-teeth  so  like  those  of  the  odd-toed 
ungulates  from  the  Paris  basin  described  by  Cuvier  as 
Palaeotherium,  these  Patagonian  ungulates  differed  from 
the  macrauchenia  in  having  the  dental  series  reduced  in 
number  and  interrupted  by  gaps.  Their  most  remarkable 
peculiarity  is,  however,  to  be  found  in  the  structure  of 
their  feet,  which,  in  some  forms  at  least,  resembled  those 
of  the  extinct  three-toed  horses,  or  hipparions,  in  which 
the  middle  toe  is  very  large,  while  the  two  lateral  ones 
are  small  and  functionless.  In  one  genus,  moreover,  the 
toes  were  reduced  to  a  single  large  one  on  each  foot,  as 
in  the  modern  horse.  And  the  fact  that  there  existed  in 
South  America  a  group  of  ungulates  which  exactly  paralleled 
the  horses  in  the  evolution  and  structure  of  their  feet  is 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  features  in  mammalian  de- 
velopment. 

Among  all  the  extinct  mammals  of  the  Argentine,  none 
strike  the  beholder  with  more  astonishment  than  those 
gigantic  cousins  of  the  modern  armadillos  of  South  America, 
collectively  known  as  glyptodons,  their  name  being  derived 
from  the  peculiar  sculpture  with  which  the  grinding  surfaces 
of  their  cheek-teeth  are  ornamented.  Both  armadillos  and 
glyptodons  differ  from  the  other  members  of  the  group  to 
which  they  belong  in  having  their  bodies  protected  by  a 
bony  shell,  or  carapace,  covering  all  but  the  under-parts, 
the  top  of  the  head  being  covered  by  a  similar  bony  shield, 
while  the  tail  is  encased  by  a  series  of  bony  rings,  or  in 
rings  at  the  base  and  a  long  tube  at  the  tip.  Whereas, 
however,  the  armadillos  (exclusive  of  the  aberrant  little 
pichiciago)  have  a  larger  or  smaller  portion  of  the  middle 
region  of  the  carapace  formed  of  movable  transverse  bands 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS         89 

of  plates,  in  the  glyptodons  the  whole  structure  is  welded 
into  a  single  piece.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that 
this  carapace  consists  of  a  single  solid  dome  of  bone,  as, 
if  it  did,  there  would,  of  course,  be  no  possibility  of  growth. 
On  the  contrary,  the  carapace  is  composed  of  polygonal 
or  rhomboidal  plates  articulating  at  their  edges,  and  thus 
allowing  of  free  growth.  In  very  old  individuals  a  consider- 
able number  of  these  plates  may,  however,  become  com- 
pletely fused  together.  During  life  these  bony  plates  were 
covered  with  small  horny  shields,  as  in  the  living  arma- 
dillos, and  they  frequently  show  incised  lines  formed  by  the 
lines  of  union  between  such  shields.  For  instance,  in  the 
members  of  the  typical  genus  of  the  group,  or  ring-tailed 
glyptodons,  each  bony  plate  was  smooth  and  polygonal  in 
shape,  while  the  lines  indicating  the  borders  of  the  horny 
shields  take  the  form  of  a  rosette.  Another  important 
point  of  difference  from  the  armadillos  is  to  be  found  in 
the  contour  of  the  skull,  which  is  short,  deep,  and  rounded, 
instead  of  being  long,  flattened,  and  pointed  at  the  muzzle. 
Then,  again,  whereas  the  armadillos  have  small  cylindrical 
teeth,  those  of  the  glyptodons  are  large  and  fluted  at  the 
sides,  with  their  grinding  surfaces  marked  by  the  aforesaid 
sculpture ;  while  the  whole  series  is  in  close  contact, 
and  forms  one  of  the  most  efficient  grinding  machines 
imaginable. 

To  support  the  enormous  weight  of  the  carapace,  which 
in  some  of  the  larger  kinds  is  considerably  more  than  an 
inch  in  thickness,  special  modifications  are  needed  in  the 
internal  skeleton.  Here  we  find  that  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  vertebrae  are  welded  together,  so  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  backbone  forms  a  continuous  solid  tube.  The  ver- 
tebrae of  the  neck  are  also  very  short,  and  may  be  partially 
united,  so  that  the  movements  of  the  head  must  have  been 


90  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

somewhat  limited.  The  observer  will  not  fail  to  notice 
also  the  great  strength  and  upright  position  of  the  haunch- 
bones  and  the  powerful  build  of  the  legs  and  feet,  the 
latter  terminating  in  five  toes  armed  with  broad,  flattened 
nails.  As  an  illustration  of  the  various  modifications  of 
the  same  general  plan  of  structure  in  use  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  it  may  be  well  to  point  out  how  essentially  the 
arrangement  of  the  armour  of  a  glyptodon  differs  from 
that  of  an  ordinary  tortoise  or  turtle.  In  the  latter  the 
carapace  is  completely  welded  to  the  ribs,  which  are  situated 
externally  to  the  haunch-  and  shoulder-bones,  whereas  in 
a  glyptodon  there  is  no  sort  of  connection  between  the 
carapace  and  the  ribs,  while  the  latter  are  internal  to 
the  haunch-  and  shoulder-bones,  In  these  respects  the 
leathery  turtle  holds  a  somewhat  intermediate  position 
between  ordinary  turtles  and  the  glyptodons,  the  carapace 
being  composed  of  polygonal  plates  totally  unconnected 
with  the  ribs,  while  the  latter  are  situated  externally  to 
the  bones  of  the  shoulder  and  haunch. 

Not  less  remarkable  are  the  modifications  of  the  vertebrae 
of  the  tail  for  the  support  of  the  rings  or  tube  with  which 
the  latter  is  encased.  In  the  first  place,  most  of  the  ver- 
tebrae of  this  region  are  welded  together  so  as  to  form 
a  hollow,  tapering  rod,  while  from  each  segment  are  given 
off  radiating  processes  upon  which  the  bony  plates  are 
borne,  and  as  the  whole  of  the  latter  are  firmly  welded 
together,  the  entire  structure  is  of  great  strength. 

When  standing  with  the  edges  of  its  impenetrable  cara- 
pace resting  on  the  ground,  its  mail-crowned  head  partially 
withdrawn  within  the  front  aperture  of  its  shell,  and  only 
the  lower  portions  of  the  limbs  exposed,  a  glyptodon  must 
have  been  safe  from  all  foes  save  savage  man,  and  even 
he  must  have  had  a  tough  job  to  slaughter  the  monster, 


SOME   EXTINCT  ARGENTINE   MAMMALS        91 

if,  indeed,  he  ever  succeeded  in  doing  so.  That  man  did 
exist  with  the  later  glyptodons,  or  those  which  flourished 
during  the  deposition  of  the  Pampas  mud,  is,  however, 
proved  by  more  than  one  kind  of  evidence.  For  instance, 
crude  drawings  of  these  animals  have  been  found  incised 
on  some  of  the  rock  surfaces  of  Patagonia,  while  in  other 
cases  human  implements  have  been  disinterred  side  by  side 
with  the  bones  and  shells.  Probably  the  empty  carapaces 
of  the  larger  members  of  the  group  were  employed  by  the 
primitive  inhabitants  of  Argentina  as  huts,  and  it  is  said 
that  they  are  sometimes  even  so  used  at  the  present  day 
by  the  Indians.  That  these  animals  were  not  killed  off 
by  any  living  foe — either  human  or  otherwise — may  be 
taken  for  granted,  and  we  must  therefore  conclude  that  this 
result  was  probably  due  to  the  same  general  cause  which 
brought  about  the  extermination  of  the  larger  Argentine 
mammals.  It  may  be  well  to  mention  that,  although  some 
of  the  living  armadillos  are  carnivorous,  it  is  perfectly 
evident,  from  the  structure  of  their  teeth,  that  all  the 
glyptodons  subsisted  exclusively  on  a  vegetable  diet. 

The  earliest  known  representatives  of  the  group  occur  in 
the  older  Tertiary  beds  of  Patagonia,  and-may  be  designated 
pigmy  glyptodons,  although  known  scientifically  as  Propalaeo- 
hoplophorus.  These  creatures,  which  lived  side  by  side  with 
armadillos  nearly  akin  to  existing  forms,  were  the  dwarfs 
of  their  race,  the  carapace  not  being  more  than  a  couple 
of  feet  in  length.  The  plates  of  the  carapace  were  smooth, 
and  ornamented  with  a  rosette-like  sculpture,  of  which  the 
central  ring  in  the  fore  part  of  the  shell  was  raised  into 
a  prominent  boss.  In  the  form  of  these  plates,  as  well  as 
in  the  circumstances  that  the  tail  was  surrounded  from  base 
to  tip  with  a  series  of  knobbed  rings,  these  pigmy  glyptodons 
resembled  the  ring-tailed  glyptodons  of  the  Pampas,  of  which 


92  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

they  may  accordingly  be  regarded  as  the  ancestral  type.  In 
the  intermediate  deposits  of  Monte  Hermoso  we  meet  with 
other  glyptodons,  which,  while  much  larger  than  those  of 
the  Patagonian  beds,  were  generally  inferior  in  this  respect 
to  the  giants  of  the  Pampean,  some  of  the  species  being 
nearly  allied  to  the  small  Patagonian  representatives  of  the 
group,  while  others  belong  to  the  same  genera  as  those 
found  in  the  Pampas. 

Passing  on  to  a  survey  of  the  leading  types  of  these 
creatures  found  in  the  alluvial  mud  of  the  Pampas,  where 
they  occur  in  great  numbers,  we  may  first  notice  the  one 
to  which  the  name  of  glyptodon  was  originally  applied. 
The  carapace  in  this  form  is  characterised  by  the  polygonal 
plates  being  nearly  smooth  and  marked  by  a  rosette  of 
incised  lines,  while  those  along  the  margin  are  raised  into  a 
series  of  bold  knobs.  In  general  contour  the  whole  carapace 
forms  a  nearly  regular  oval  dome,  with  the  plates  on  the 
front  and  hind  margins  knobbed  and  ridged.  Although  in 
the  specimen  first  sent  to  England  the  tail  of  another 
species  was  unfortunately  affixed  to  the  carapace,  it  is  now 
known  that  the  armour  of  the  tail  took  the  form  of  a 
number  of  rings,  gradually  diminishing  in  diameter  from 
the  root  to  the  tip,  and  severally  ornamented  with  a  series 
of  conical  knobs,  thus  forming  a  protective  case  against 
which  little  short  of  a  steam-hammer  would  have  been  of 
any  avail. 

Although  one  might  have  thought  that  these  ring-tailed 
glyptodons,  as  they  may  be  conveniently  termed,  were  suffi- 
ciently large  and  bizarre  to  have  stood  alone  in  the  world, 
they  were  exceeded  in  size  and  strangeness  of  form  by  a  still 
more  extraordinary  creature.  In  this  stupendous  monster, 
which  measured  upwards  of  1 1  ft.  8  in.  in  a  straight 
line,  the  carapace  is  characterised  by  its  peculiar  hump- 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS         93 

backed  form,  while  its  margins  lack  the  prominent  knobs 
characterising  those  of  the  preceding  group.  On  closer 
examination  it  will  be  found  that  each  of  the  com- 
ponent plates  of  the  carapace,  instead  of  being  polygonal 
and  marked  by  a  rosette  of  lines,  is  rhomboidal  and  pierced 
by  from  two  to  five  large  circular  holes.  From  the  analogy 
of  the  living  hairy  armadillo — known  in  Argentina  by  the 
name  of  peludo,  or  hairy  animal — it  is  quite  evident  that 
during  life  the  holes  in  the  plates  of  the  carapace  of  this 
extinct  monster — which,  by  the  way,  may  be  known  as 
the  "  club-tailed  glyptodon,"  or  technically  as  Daedicurus — 
must  have  formed  the  exits  of  large  bristles,  which  were 
equal  in  diameter  to  a  cock's  quill,  and  were  doubtless  many 
inches  in  length.  The  whole  body  of  the  animal  must, 
therefore,  have  resembled  a  gigantic  porcupine.  Still  more 
extraordinary  is  the  conformation  of  the  huge  tail,  which 
had  a  length  of  about  five  feet.  At  its  base  this  appendage 
was  encircled  by  about  half  a  dozen  double  bony  rings, 
nearly  as  large  at  the  base  as  the  iron  hoops  in  the  middle 
of  an  ordinary  beer-barrel,  their  component  plates  being 
pierced  by  the  aforesaid  holes  for  bristles.  The  whole  of 
the  terminal  half  of  the  tail  is  formed  by  one  continuous 
piece  of  hollow  bone,  which,  if  we  exclude  whales,  is  one 
of  the  most  massive  bony  structures  in  the  animal  kingdom, 
and  is  almost  as  much  as  a  man  can  lift.  Starting  at  its 
base  in  the  form  of  a  nearly  cylindrical  tube,  this  sheath 
rapidly  expands  at  the  sides,  and  becomes  flattened  on  the 
upper  and  lower  surfaces,  until  at  the  tip  it  finally  assumes 
the  form  of  a  depressed,  flattened  club,  which  would  have 
formed  a  most  effective  weapon  for  a  giant.  Along  the 
sides  of  its  extremity  this  club  is  marked  by  a  number  of 
oval  depressed  discs,  showing  a  sculptured  pattern  of 
ridges  and  grooves  radiating  from  the  centre,  and  some 


94  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  them  attaining  a  length  of  six  or  seven  inches.  From 
the  structure  of  their  sculpture  it  seems  evident  that 
during  life  these  discs  formed  the  bases  of  huge  horns 
projecting  at  right  angles  to  the  tail,  which  would  thus 
have  formed  a  veritable  cheval  de  frise.  If,  as  is  quite 
probable,  these  horns  were  as  long  as  those  of  the  common 
African  rhinoceros,  the  tail  of  the  daedicurus  must  have 
presented  a  most  extraordinary  appearance  as  it  dragged 
on  the  ground  behind  its  owner  (for  it  is  impossible  to 
believe  that  any  muscles  could  have  raised  such  a  stupen- 
dous structure).  The  use  of  these  horny  appendages  is, 
however,  hard  indeed  to  guess,  since  the  creature  was 
amply  protected  by  the  underlying  bone  ;  and  it  is  there- 
fore probable  that  they  must  come  under  the  category  of 
ornamental  appendages.  Be  this  as  it  may,  with  its  bristle- 
clad  body  and  horned  tail,  the  club-tailed  glyptodon  may 
well  lay  claim  to  the  right  of  being  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  creatures  that  ever  walked  this  earth  during 
the  whole  duration  of  the  Tertiary  period.  Another  species 
belonging  to  the  same  genus,  of  which  the  remains  are 
found  in  the  Tertiary  beds  of  Monte  Hermoso,  is  remark- 
able for  possessing  a  cone-shaped  aperture  in  the  middle 
of  the  hinder  part  of  the  carapace,  of  which  the  only 
conceivable  use  is  that  it  acted  as  the  point  of  discharge 
of  a  gland. 

Nearly  equal  in  size  to  the  Pampean  representative  of 
the  preceding  genus,  but  distinguished  markedly  by  the 
characters  of  the  skull  and  the  more  regularly  dome-like 
form  of  the  carapace,  is  another  monster  from  the  Pampas 
which  has  been  described  under  the  name  of  Panochthus. 
Although  the  plates  of  the  carapace  have  the  same  oblong 
form  as  in  the  club-tailed  glyptodon,  they  lack  any  per- 
forations for  bristles,  and  are  marked  by  a  number  of 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS         95 

patches  of  minute  tubercles,  so  that  this  species  may  be 
spoken  of  as  the  tuberculated  glyptodon.  Doubtless  the 
carapace  was  covered  during  life  by  thin  horny  shields, 
although  the  marks  of  these  are  not  generally  shown  on 
the  bone  ;  and  from  the  absence  of  bristles  the  creature 
must  have  been  as  smooth  as  the  small  existing  mulita, 
or  three-banded  armadillo.  The  tail  was  much  smaller  than 
that  of  the  club-tailed  species,  consisting  at  the  base  of  a 
number  of  relatively  small  rings,  and  terminating  in  a  tube 
of  about  a  yard  in  length.  This  tube  lacks,  however,  the 
terminal  expansion  and  flattening  of  that  of  the  preceding 
form,  while  the  large  discs  with  which  it  is  ornamented 
take  the  form  of  prominent  rough  bosses,  which  probably 
carried  flattened  horny  knobs,  instead  of  spines,  during  life. 

The  last  representatives  of  the  group  to  which  I  shall 
allude  are  much  smaller  species  from  the  deposits  of 
Monte  Hermoso  and  the  Pampas,  known  as  smooth-tailed 
glyptodons,  or,  technically,  Hoplophorus.  In  these  creatures 
the  carapace  was  much  more  elongated  and  depressed  than 
in  the  other  kinds,  while  it  projected  forward  on  the  sides 
of  the  shoulders  in  a  manner  somewhat  like  that  of  the 
armadillos.  The  plates  of  the  carapace  show  a  rosette 
pattern,  not  unlike  those  of  the  ring-tailed  glyptodon,  but 
they  are  still  smoother,  and  of  an  irregular  oblong  shape. 
As  regards  the  tail,  this  consisted  at  the  base  of  a  number 
of  smooth  rings,  fitting  into  one  another  at  their  junctions 
like  the  joints  of  a  telescope,  while  at  the  end  it  terminated 
in  a  slightly  flattened  tube  ornamented  with  a  number  of 
small,  smooth  oval  discs  of  about  an  inch  in  diameter, 
interspersed  with  which  were  arranged  a  few  much  larger 
but  equally  smooth  and  prominent  discs  along  the  sides. 
These  discs,  of  all  dimensions,  were  evidently  coated  with 
smooth  scales  of  horn  during  life,  and,  from  the  absence 


96  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  apertures  for  bristles,  the  same  smoothness  doubtless 
characterised  the  carapace.  The  head  was  protected  by  a 
smooth  shield  of  small  tesselated  plates,  and  the  skull  was 
characterised  by  the  peculiar  twisting  and  curvature  of 
the  bones  of  the  nose. 

Such  are  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  better-known 
representatives  of  the  mailed  monsters  of  Argentina — a 
group  which  was  continued  in  a  straight  line  from  the 
pigmy  glyptodon  of  Patagonia  to  the  ring-tailed  species  of 
the  Pampas,  while  all  the  other  giant  forms  of  the  latter 
must  be  regarded  as  lateral  offshoots  from  the  original 
stock,  which  continued,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  to  develop 
more  and  more  bizarre  characters  until  the  date  of  their 
final  disappearance.  In  conclusion,  it  should  be  added  that 
a  strange,  gigantic  armoured  creature,  found  commonly  in 
the  cavern  deposits  of  Brazil,  and  also  rarely  in  Argentina, 
seems  to  have  been  a  kind  of  connecting  link  between 
the  glyptodons  and  the  armadillos,  having  the  carapace 
formed  of  a  number  of  movable  plates,  arranged  in  a  series 
of  overlapping  bands  as  in  the  latter,  but  with  teeth  of 
the  type  of  the  former.  Unfortunately,  however,  this 
interesting  creature,  which  must  have  been  as  big  as  a 
large  rhinoceros,  is  known  by  such  fragmentary  remains 
that  its  full  affinities  cannot  yet  be  determined,  as  we  are 
still  ignorant  whether  its  skull  approximated  to  the  glypto- 
don or  the  armadillo  type. 

Sufficiently  protected  from  all  attacks  on  the  part  of  the 
wolf-like  marsupials  and  such  other  large  carnivorous 
mammals  as  may  at  the  same  period  have  roamed  over 
Argentina,  the  pigmy  glyptodon  of  the  Santa  Cruz  beds  of 
Patagonia  could  have  had  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  its 
existence  against  foes  of  all  kinds,  and  subsequently  giving 
rise  to  the  gigantic  mailed  monsters  described  above. 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS         97 

Side  by  side  with  this  well-defended  creature  there  lived, 
however,  another  not  less  remarkable  mammal,  of  nearly 
similar  dinlensions,  and  likewise  belonging  to  the  great 
order  of  edentates,  then,  as  now,  so  characteristic  of 
South  America.  This  creature  had,  however,  no  such 
coat  of  mail  as  that  which  defended  its  contemporary 
(though  there  is  a  possibility  that  some  bony  granules 
may  have  been  embedded  in  its  skin),  and  as  it  appears 
to  have  been  .equally  devoid  of  weapons  of  offence,  while 
it  did  not  derive  protection  from  an  arboreal  life,  it  may 
be  a  matter  of  wonder  how  it  managed  to  fight  its  way 
through  the  struggle  for  existence.  That  it  did  so  is, 
however,  perfectly  clear,  since  the  pigmy  ground-sloth,  as  the 
animal  in  question  may  be  called,  is  clearly  the  ancestral 
type  from  which  were  subsequently  evolved  those  gigantic 
edentates  of  the  Pleistocene  deposits  of  the  Argentine 
scientifically  known  by  the  names  of  Megalotherium,  Mylodon, 
etc.,  but  which  may  be  collectively  designated  ground-sloths. 
These,  although  in  some  cases  unprotected  by  any  means 
of  defence,  were  among  the  most  gigantic  of  mammals,  and 
they  had,  it  is  needless  to  say,  no  difficulty  in  holding  their 
own ;  and  it  is  only  with  regard  to  their  pigmy  ancestors 
that  we  have  any-  cause  for  wondering  how  they  managed 
to  survive.  Possibly  these  pigmy  ground-sloths  were 
burrowing  creatures,  like  the  great  ant-eater  of  the  present 
day,  and  lived  in  holes  excavated  by  their  powerful  claws ; 
and  if  this  should  be  the  case,  the  difficulty  as  to  their 
survival  vanishes. 

Sloths  are,  however,  such  essentially  arboreal  creatures, 
as  characteristic  of  the  Brazilian  forests  as  are  squirrels 
and  dormice  of  our  own  woods,  that  my  readers  will  want 
to  know  what  I  mean  by  using  such  an  apparently  contra- 
dictory term  as  ground-sloths. 

7 


98  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

To  justify  myself,  and  at  the  same  time  to  enable  my 
readers  properly  to  understand  the  structure  of  these 
strange  extinct  edentates,  it  is  necessary  to  enter  into  a 
short  dissertation  on  the  subject  of  sloths,  and  likewise  of 
their  distant  cousins  the  ant-eaters. 

The  external  form  and  long  shaggy  hair  of  the  sloths  are 
too  well  known  to  require  description,  and  I  pass  on  to 
draw  attention  to  certain  peculiarities  in  regard  to  their 
skeletons  and  teeth  which  will  aid  in  explaining  the  reason 
for  the  term  ground-sloths.  In  the  first  place,  then,  sloths, 
which  are  comparatively  small  animals,  are  characterised 
by  their  peculiarly  short  and  rounded  heads,  of  an  almost 
spherical  form.  If  the  skull  of  one  of  these  animals  be 
examined,  a  total  absence  of  front  teeth  will  be  noticed  ; 
while  the  cheek-teeth  comprise  five  pairs  in  the  upper 
and  four  in  the  lower  jaw. 

As  already  stated,  the  teeth  in  all  edentates  are  devoid 
of  the  enamel  so  characteristic  of  those  of  other  mammals ; 
and  in  the  sloths  they  form  short  cylinders,  of  which 
the  outer  layer  is  harder  than  the  central  core,  in  con- 
sequence  of  which  their  grinding  surfaces  become  slightly 
cup-shaped.  In  the  three-toed  sloths  (Bradypus)  the  whole 
of  the  teeth  are  of  this  extremely  simple  type ;  but  in 
their  two-toed  cousins  (Cholaepus)  the  first  pair  in  each  jaw 
are  longer  than  either  of  the  others,  and  modified  into  a 
somewhat  tusk-like  form,  the  upper  ones  wearing  against 
the  front  of  the  lower  ones  so  as  to  produce  by  mutual 
attrition  an  oblique  bevelled  surface  at  the  top  of  each. 
Both  limbs  of  sloths  are  remarkable  for  their  length  and 
slenderness,  but  the  front  pair  are  much  longer  than  the 
hinder  ones.  The  narrow  and  curved  feet  terminate  in 
long  hooked  claws,  which  in  the  three-toed  species  are 
three  in  number  in  each  foot,  although  in  the  fore-feet  of 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS        99 

the  two-toed  sloth  they  are  reduced  to  two ;  in  fact,  the 
feet  are  reduced  to  the  condition  of  little  more  than  hooks, 
admirably  adapted  for  suspending  the  animal  back-down- 
wards from  the  boughs  of  trees,  but  forming  poor  instruments 
for  terrestrial  progression.  Indeed,  when  on  the  ground 
sloths  walk  slowly  and  awkwardly,  with  the  soles  of  the 
feet  turned  inwards,  and  the  weight  of  the  body  supported 
on  their  outward  edges.  It  is  important  to  notice  that 
in  the  skeleton  of  the  feet  the  terminal  bones,  or  those 
ensheathed  in  the  long  claws,  are  not  longitudinally  grooved 
on  the  upper  surface. 

The  South  American,  or  true  ant-eaters,  one  of  which  is 
terrestrial  while  the  other  two  are  more  or  less  arboreal 
in  their  habits,  are  so  unlike  the  sloths  that  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  they  have  any  near  relationship  with  the 
latter ;  and,  indeed,  were  it  not  for  the  extinct  creatures 
now  under  discussion,  it  would  have  been  very  difficult 
to  discover  how  close  the  connection  between  these  two 
groups  really  is.  In  place  of  the  short  and  rounded 
heads  of  the  sloths,  the  ant-eaters  have  the  head  greatly 
elongated  and  very  slender,  while  the  thin  jaws  are  totally 
devoid  of  teeth,  and  the  tongue  is  long,  cylindrical,  and 
highly  extensile.  There  is,  however,  some  degree  of 
variation  in  regard  to  the  elongation  of  the  skull,  the 
maximum  development  occurring  in  that  of  the  great 
ant-eater.  If  possible,  a  still  greater  difference  obtains  in 
the  structure  of  the  feet,  the  fore-foot  of  the  great  ant-eater 
having  five  toes,  of  which  the  middle  one  is  vastly  more 
powerful  than  either  of  the  others,  while  all  but  the  fifth 
have  strong  claws.  In  walking,  the  extreme  outer  side 
and  part  of  the  upper  surface  of  the  fore-foot  are  applied 
to  the  ground  ;  but  in  the  hind-foot,  which  has  the  fourth 
toe  the  largest  and  all  the  five  digits  furnished  with  claws, 


ioo  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  whole  of  the  short  sole  touches  the  ground  in  the 
ordinary  manner.  An  important  difference  from  the  sloths 
is  to  be  found  in  the  circumstance  that  the  bones  of  the 
terminal  joints  of  the  feet  have  a  longitudinal  median  groove 
on  the  upper  surface  at  their  tips. 

With  these  remarks  on  some  of  the  leading  features  of 
the  sloths  and  ant-eaters,  the  reader  will  be  in  a  position 
to  appreciate  the  peculiarities  in  the  structure  of  the  ground- 
sloths,  and  likewise  to  understand  the  appropriateness  of 
the  name  by  which  they  are  designated. 

Apparently  the  first  of  these  extinct  animals  known  in 
Europe  was  the  giant  ground-sloth,  or  Megalotherium,  of 
which  a  nearly  complete  skeleton  was  discovered  in  the  year 
1789  near  Lujan,  in  the  province  of  Buenos  Aires.  This 
skeleton  was  soon  after  sent  to  Madrid,  and  described  by 
Cuvier  in  1798,  who  gave  it  the  name  by  which  the  animal 
has  ever  since  been  known.  Cuvier  recognised  the  affinities 
of  the  megalothere  to  the  sloths ;  and  other  skeletons  sub- 
sequently obtained  from  the  superficial  deposits  of  Buenos 
Aires,  and  which  are  now  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Surgeons,  the  British  Museum,  and  the  museums 
of  Milan,  Paris,  and  La  Plata,  have  in  their  turn  served  to 
confirm  the  general  truth  of  the  original  determination. 

One  of  the  most  gigantic  of  land  mammals,  measuring  some- 
where about  eighteen  feet  in  total  length,  the  megalothere, 
although  with  a  more  elongated  skull,  agrees  with  the  sloths 
in  the  number  of  its  teeth.  In  structure,  however,  these 
teeth  are  decidedly  different  from  those  of  the  sloth.  In 
form  they  are  square  prisms,  with  a  length  of  over  ten 
inches,  and  a  diameter  of  fully  an  inch  and  a  half.  The 
summit  of  each  tooth  carries  a  pair  of  transverse  ridges, 
produced  by  the  alternation  of  vertical  plates  of  different 
hardness  in  the  tooth  itself ;  and  since  the  teeth  are  rootless 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS       101 

and  grow  continuously  throughout  the  life  of  their  owner, 
this  transversely  ridged  structure  is  likewise  permanent. 
To  contain  such  enormous  teeth,  the  lower  jaw  is  remark- 
ably deepened  in  the  middle  of  its  length,  where  it  descends 
suddenly.  A  long  median  channel,  extending  between  and 
in  front  of  the  anterior  teeth,  is  evidently  for  the  reception 
of  a  large  and  fleshy  tongue,  which  from  its  size  was 
probable  extensile  like  that  of  the  giraffe. 

If  we  had  only  the  megalothere  to  deal  with,  there 
might  be  some  hesitation,  judging  from  the  skull  and 
teeth  (which  in  the  group  are  the  only  portions  of  the 
skeleton  showing  sloth-like  affinities)  in  regarding  the 
group  of  animals  to  which  it  belongs  as  closely  allied  to 
the  sloths.  Fortunately,  however,  the  same  Pleistocene 
deposits  of  Buenos  Aires  (to  say  nothing  of  the  caverns 
of  Minas  Geraes,  in  Brazil)  have  yielded  remains  of  other 
and  somewhat  smaller  ground-sloths,  known  as  mylodons, 
which  effectually  bridge,  in  these  respects,  the  gap  between 
the  megalothere  and  the  sloths.  In  these  animals  the  teeth 
are  either  cylindrical  or  triangular  in  section ;  and  from 
having  a  harder  external  coat,  wear  in  the  same  cup- 
shaped  manner  as  those  of  the  latter.  Moreover,  in 
some  mylodons  the  front  pair  of  teeth  in  each  jaw  have 
the  elongated  tusk-like  form  and  oblique  wear  character- 
ising those  of  the  two-toed  sloth,  while  in  others  they 
resemble  the  hinder  teeth,  as  in  the  three-toed  sloth. 
We  thus  have  an  exact  parallelism  in  this  respect  among 
the  mylodons  to  the  two  genera  of  sloths;  and  as  their 
skulls  in  their  more  rounded  and  shorter  form,  and  the 
absence  of  a  descending  expansion  in  the  middle  of  the 
lower  jaw,  are  likewise  more  sloth-like  than  is  the  skull 
of  the  megalothere,  we  can  have  no  hesitation  in  re- 
garding the  ground-sloths,  so  far  as  cranial  characters 


102  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

are  concerned,  as  closely  allied  to  the  sloths.  It  may  be 
added  that  the  great  divergence  of  the  two  series  of 
teeth  in  the  mylodon  skull  indicates  the  presence  during 
life  of  a  tongue  of  great  width  and  size.  Mylodons  had 
a  number  of  ossicles,  like  large  beans,  embedded  in  the 
outer  surface  of  the  skin ;  but  in  the  nearly  allied 
glossothere,  of  which  portions  of  skin  covered  with  long 
sloth-like  hair  have  been  discovered  in  a  cave  in  Pata- 
gonia, nearly  similar  ossicles  were  embedded  in  the  inner 
side  of  the  skin.  Strange  to  say,  these  ground-sloths 
appear  to  have  been  kept  in  caves  as  domesticated 
animals  by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Patagonia. 

Thus  far  I  have  shown  how  the  ground-sloths  are 
related  to  the  sloths  in  the  characters  of  their  skulls ; 
but  other  members  of  the  group,  known  as  the  scelido- 
theres  (Scelidotherium),  although  still  retaining  the  same 
number  of  teeth,  present  a  certain  approximation  in  these 
respects  to  the  ant-eaters.  Thus  their  skulls,  instead  of 
being  short  and  broad  like  those  of  the  mylodons,  are  very 
long  and  narrow,  and  have  the  muzzle  much  produced  in 
advance  of  the  anterior  teeth.  Indeed,  it  would  require 
only  a  still  greater  elongation  and  narrowing  of  the  skull 
of  a  scelidothere,  coupled  with  the  total  loss  of  the 
teeth,  to  produce  one  very  similar  to  that  of  an  ant-eater. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  palaeontologists  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  trace  a  complete  transition  from  the  gigantic 
ground-sloths  of  the  Pleistocene  deposits  of  Buenos  Aires 
to  their  diminutive  representatives  from  the  older  Tertiary 
deposits  of  Patagonia,  although  it  is  known  that  some  of 
the  species  from  the  intermediate  formations  were  inferior 
in  point  of  size  to  their  more  recent  allies.  It  is,  how- 
ever, very  interesting  to  find  that  the  pigmy  ground-sloths 
of  these  Patagonian  deposits  had  transversely  ridged 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS       103 

prismatic  teeth  like  those  of  the  megalothere,  and  not  the 
cylindrical  or  triangular  ones  of  the  mylodons  and  scelido- 
theres ;  thus  apparently  indicating  that  the  former  type 
of  tooth  is  the  oldest.  The  contrast  between  the  pigmy 
ground-sloth  and  the  giant  ground-sloth  (Megalotherium] 
is,  however,  most  remarkable.  The  total  length  of  the 
skeleton  of  the  former  was  only  about  three  feet,  while 
its  skull  was  less  than  six  inches,  whereas  that  of  the  latter 
was  over  a  couple  of  feet  in  length.  Then,  again,  the 
whole  series  of  five  upper  teeth  occupy  in  the  pigmy 
ground-sloth  a  space  of  less  than  an  inch  and  a  half, 
or  less  than  the  diameter  of  a  single  tooth  of  its 
gigantic  relative.  That  such  a  diminutive  creature,  if  as 
naked  and  undefended  as  its  huge  cousin  appears  to  have 
been,  needed  some  special  protection,  is  evident;  and  it 
is  the  need  of  such  defence  from  attack  that  has  led  me 
to  suggest  that  the  creature  may  have  been  fossorial  in  its 
habits. 

Leaving  for  a  moment  the  mutual  relationships  and 
affinities  of  all  these  different  animals,  a  glance  may  be 
directed  at  the  skeleton  of  the  body  and  limbs  of  the 
ground-sloths.  In  the  first  place  this  differs  from  that 
of  the  sloths  in  the  shortness  and  extreme  massiveness  of 
the  limbs ;  and  especially  in  the  extraordinary  stoutness 
and  width  of  the  bones  of  the  hind-leg  and  haunches. 
In  the  general  form  of  the  scapula  or  blade-bone,  and 
more  especially  in  the  presence  of  a  complete  pair  of 
clavicles  or  collar-bones,  the  ground-sloths  resemble  the 
sloths  and  differ  from  the  ant-eaters ;  the  clavicles  of  the 
latter  being  rudimentary.  The  skeleton  of  the  fore-foot 
is,  however,  essentially  that  of  an  ant-eater,  the  inner  toe 
being  rudimentary,  the  next  three,  and  more  especially 
the  middle  one,  enormously  enlarged,  and  furnished 


104  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

during  life  with  huge  claws,  while  the  outermost  was  small 
and  clawless.     That   during  life  the  creature  rested  on  the 
outer  side   of  this    fifth  claw  and   the   backs  of  the   three 
large   toes,  in   ant-eater   fashion,  may,  from    the   structure 
and    arrangement   of    their   bones,    be   considered   certain. 
Unlike   the  ant-eater,  in   which  it  rests  upon  the  sole,  the 
hind-foot   of  the    Pleistocene   ground-sloths   is    even   more 
strangely    modified     than   the     front   one,    these   creatures 
walking    only    on    its  outer    edge,    while     the    enormous 
middle   toe,    with    its   gigantic   claw,    does     not    appear   to 
have    touched    the    ground    in    walking,    and    was    thus 
always   kept    sharp.      The   first   toe   is   wanting,   and   the 
second   rudimentary,  while  the   two  outer  ones  were   rela- 
tively small   and    unprovided    with  claws.      Some   idea  of 
the    gigantic    proportions     of    the    megalothere     may     be 
gathered  from  the  circumstance  that  its  hind-foot  measures 
nearly   a   yard  in  length.     Of  the  pigmy  ground-sloths  of 
Patagonia   the   complete   skeleton    has   not    yet    been   de- 
scribed ;   but   so   far   as   my  recollection  of  a  specimen   in 
the   La   Plata   museum  goes,  I  believe  that  it  was   not  of 
the    extremely    specialised    type   characterising    the    later 
gigantic  forms.     Moreover,  while  in  the  latter  the  terminal 
joints  of  the   feet   were   neither   grooved  nor  split   at   the 
extremities,    in    the   small    Patagonian   species   these   were 
deeply   cleft    at    the   end,    as    in   the   scaly    ant-eaters   or 
pangolins   of  India   and  Africa.     As  regards  the  structure 
of  the   vertebral  column,  the  ground-sloths  exhibit  certain 
peculiarities   distinctive   of  the   ant-eaters,  which   are  only 
rudimentary  in  the  sloths. 

When  to  this  brief  survey  of  the  chief  structural 
peculiarities  of  the  skeleton  of  the  creatures  under  considera- 
tion is  added  the  circumstance  that,  from  their  enormous 
size,  they  must  necessarily  have  been  terrestrial  in  their 


SOME  EXTINCT  ARGENTINE   MAMMALS       105 

habits,  we  are  in  a  position  to  realise  the  appropriate 
nature  of  the  term  "  ground-sloths "  by  which  they  are 
designated. .  These  creatures  may,  in  fact,  be  briefly 
described  as  edentates  with  a  skull,  teeth,  and  shoulder- 
girdle  very  similar  to  those  of  the  sloths ;  while  as  regards 
their  backbone  and  feet  they  come  very  close  to  the  ant- 
eaters,  although  in  the  later  and  more  gigantic  forms  the 
specialisation  characterising  the  fore-feet  of  the  latter  has 
been  extended  to  the  hinder  pair. 

Turning  to  the  question  of  the  mutual  relationships  and 
phylogeny  of  the  three  groups  of  edentates  discussed  in 
the  course  of  the  foregoing  paragraphs,  we  shall  have 
little  hesitation  in  regarding  the  pigmy  ground-sloths, 
which  are  the  earliest  known  representatives  of  the  group, 
as  the  direct  ancestors  of  the  gigantic  megalothere.  A 
modification  in  the  structure  of  the  teeth  would  equally 
well  permit  of  their  having  likewise  been  the  ancestors 
of  the  mylodons,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  possess  sloth- 
like  teeth.  This,  however,  will  not  permit  us  to  regard 
the  mylodons  as  having  been  the  forerunners  of  the  sloths, 
seeing  that  the  latter  have  a  less  specialised  type  of 
hind-foot ;  and  we  must  accordingly  regard  the  sloths  as 
a  side  branch  derived  from  the  pigmy  ground-sloths  or 
some  nearly  allied  forms  after  the  acquisition  of  cylindrical 
teeth,  but  before  the  hind-foot  had  acquired  the  specialisation 
characterising  the  mylodons  and  megalotheres.  Hence 
the  curious  structural  similarity  between  the  front  teeth 
of  some  of  the  mylodons  and  the  two-toed  sloth  must  be 
another  instance  of  that  parallelism  in  development  to 
which  reference  has  so  often  been  made. 

With  regard  to  the  ant-eaters,  we  have  already  seen 
that  the  fore-foot  of  these  animals  resembles  that  of  the 
pigmy  ground-sloths  in  that  the  terminal  joints  of  the 


106  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

larger  toes  are  marked  by  a  longitudinal  groove  repre- 
senting the  cleft  of  those  of  the  latter;  and  as  in  both 
groups  the  middle  toe  is  the  largest,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  ant-eaters  should  not  trace  their  origin  to  these 
same  pigmy  ground-sloths  or  a  closely  allied  type.  In 
this  case  the  specialisation  has  resulted  in  a  lengthening 
of  the  skull  and  the  loss  of  the  teeth,  the  hind-foot  having 
retained  more  or  less  of  the  primitive  type.  Here  like- 
wise we  must  notice  that  the  resemblance  presented  by 
the  skull  of  the  scelidotheres  to  that  of  the  ant-eaters 
must  be  regarded  as  an  instance  of  parallel  development. 

From  the  structure  of  their  teeth,  the  ground-sloths 
were  evidently  pure  vegetarians ;  and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  sloths,  which  are  animals  specially  modified  for  the 
exigencies  of  an  arboreal  existence.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  ant-eaters,  as  their  name  implies,  have  given  up  a 
vegetable  diet  and  taken  to  living  on  ants,  and  to  this  may 
be  attributed  their  total  loss  of  teeth.  Should  germs  of 
teeth  ever  be  found  in  their  jaws  during  an  early  stage  of 
existence,  I  venture  to  predict  they  will  approximate  in 
structure  to  the  teeth  of  the  ground-sloths. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  saying  a  few  words  as  to  the 
probable  mode  of  life  and  external  appearance  of  ground- 
sloths.  The  Patagonian  specimens  have  shown  that,  like 
sloths  and  ant-eaters,  they  were  clothed  with  a  thick 
covering  of  coarse  hair.  Further,  from  their  massive 
proportions,  and  also  from  their  kinship  to  the  sloths, 
it  is  most  likely  that  ground-sloths  were  as  slow  and 
deliberate  in  their  movements  as  the  latter.  That  such 
monstrous  creatures  could  not  have  existed  in  a  treeless 
country  like  the  Argentine  Pampas  has  been  already  pointed 
out,  and  we  may  hence  assume  that  in  the  days  of  the 
ground-sloths  Argentina  was  much  like  what  Brazil  is  at 


SOME   EXTINCT   ARGENTINE   MAMMALS       107 

the  present  day.  Browsing  on  the  leaves  and  perhaps  the 
smaller  branches  of  forest-trees,  the  ground-sloths  probably 
obtained  their  food  by  rearing  themselves  up  against  the 
trunks,  supported  on  the  tripod  formed  by  their  massive 
hind-limbs  and  powerful  tail,  the  ponderous  structure  of 
the  haunch-bones  being  eminently  adapted  for  maintaining 
the  body  in  such  a  posture.  The  same  massiveness  of 
structure  conclusively  proves  that  the  creatures  were  not 
arboreal,  since  no  tree  capable  of  being  climbed  could 
carry  such  an  enormous  weight.  It  was  suggested,  indeed, 
by  Sir  Richard  Owen  that  the  megalothere  was  in  the 
habit,  when  reared  up  in  the  manner  indicated  above,  of 
clasping  a  tree  in  its  arms  and  swaying  it  backwards  and 
forwards  until  it  fell  with  a  crash  to  the  ground ;  but 
although  such  a  radical  mode  of  procedure  may  have  been 
occasionally  resorted  to,  we  have  no  right  to  assume  that 
such  was  the  ordinary  habit  of  the  ground-sloths. 


CELEBES:  A  PROBLEM  IN  DISTRIBUTION 

PROBABLY  at  least  nine  out  of  every  ten  of  the  readers  of 
the  present  article  would  pronounce  the  name  of  the  island 
Celebes  with  the  second  syllable  short;  and  if  it  were  an 
English  name,  they  would  be  right  in  so  doing.  But  the 
Malays  have  a  habit  of  accenting  the  middle  syllable  of 
three-syllabled  words,  and  we  thus  have  Sardwak,  Basflan, 
Celebes,  etc.  In  this  respect  Malay  names  are  the  exact 
opposite  of  South  American,  in  which  the  accent  falls  on 
the  third  syllable,  as  in  Panama^  Bogotd,  and  Ecuador. 
Doubtless  it  is  a  small  matter,  but  it  is  well  to  be  correct 
even  in  the  pronunciation  of  names. 

Having  put  matters  right  in  this  respect,  the  next  point 
is  to  inform  my  readers  why  Celebes  has  been  selected 
as  the  subject  of  an  article  at  all  ;  and  why  Borneo, 
Sumatra,  or  Java  would  not  have  done  just  as  well.  To 
render  this  point  clear  I  must  refer  briefly  to  the  geo- 
graphical position  of  Celebes  and  the  neighbouring  islands. 
Borneo,  Sumatra,  and  Java  are  the  three  largest  of  the 
Malayan  islands  lying  nearest  to  the  Malay  Peninsula  ; 
and  although  they  possess  many  peculiar  animals — notably 
the  orang,  which  is  confined  to  Borneo  and  Sumatra — yet 
their  fauna  as  a  whole  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Malay 
mainland,  and  thus  intimately  connected  with  that  of  India. 
Accordingly,  naturalists  are  pretty  well  agreed  in  including 
these  islands  in  what  is  called  the  Oriental  region  of 

1 08 


CELEBES:   A   PROBLEM   IN    DISTRIBUTION     109 

zoological    distribution,    of    which    the    Philippine    Islands 
likewise  form  a  part. 

Now,  Celebes  lies  due  east  of  Borneo,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  the  Macassar  Strait,  and  also  nearly  midway 
between  the  Philippines  on  the  north  and  the  small  islands 
of  Lombok,  Sumbawa,  and  Flores  on  the  south ;  these 
three  latter  islands  forming  the  continuation  of  the  line 
of  Sumatra  and  Java,  which  evidently  indicates  an  old 
peninsula.  Eastward  of  Celebes  lie  the  Moluccas  (or 
Spice)  Islands  on  the  north,  and  Ceram  (which  forms  the 
lowest  member  of  the  same  group)  in  the  south;  both 
these  being  nearly  midway  between  Celebes  and  Papua 
or  New  Guinea.  And  when  we  reach  the  latter  country 
we  are  practically  in  Australia,  the  animals  being  quite 
unlike  those  of  the  typical  Malayan  islands  and  the  other 
countries  of  the  Oriental  region.  We  have,  for  instance,  in 
New  Guinea,  tree-kangaroos,  cuscuses,  flying-phalangers, 
bandicoots,  echidnas  or  spiny  ant-eaters,  cassowaries,  cocka- 
toos, birds  of  paradise,  and  bower-birds,  all  of  which  are 
essentially  Australian  types,  although  some,  like  the  birds 
of  paradise,  attain  their  maximum  development  in  New 
Guinea  itself.  The  little  island  of  Ceram  has  also  a  fauna 
of  an  Australian  type,  including,  among  other  forms,  a 
cassowary.  Accordingly,  all  naturalists  are  agreed  that 
Australia,  New  Guinea,  Ceram  and  the  other  Moluccas, 
together  with  the  Aru  and  some  of  the  other  small  islands 
in  the  neighbourhood,  form  one  great  zoological  province, 
which  may  be  called  the  Australasian.  But  the  problem 
has  been  in  which  region  to  place  Celebes,  whose  fauna 
is  in  some  respects  intermediate  between  that  of  the 
Australasian  and  Oriental  regions.  By  Dr.  A.  R.  Wallace, 
the  great  authority  on  the  geographical  distribution  of 
animals,  it  was  at  first  classed  with  the  former,  although 


no  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

subsequently  given  a  doubtful  position  ;  and  his  views 
have  been  followed  by  most  later  writers.  Recently,  how- 
ever, several  writers  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
should  be  included  in  the  Oriental  region. 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  Celebes  is  an  island 
of  very  peculiar  and  unusual  shape.  It  consists  of  an 
irregular  central  region,  from  which  are  given  off  four 
still  more  irregular  peninsulas,  of  which  the  one  running 
in  the  direction  of  the  Moluccas  is  considerably  the  largest. 
Its  general  outline  is  more  like  that  frequently  assumed 
by  an  amoeba  than  anything  else,  and  it  is  quite  clear  from 
this  remarkable  shape  that  the  island  is  situated  in  a 
subsiding  area,  and  once  formed  a  portion  of  a  much 
larger  land-mass.  From  the  peculiarity  of  its  animals  it 
is  evident  that  Celebes  has  existed  as  an  island  since  an 
epoch  comparatively  remote;  and  the  question  naturally 
arises  whether  its  last  connection  was  with  Borneo  and 
the  other  Malay  islands,  or  with  Ceram  and  New  Guinea. 
In  a  question  of  this  nature  the  depth  of  the  surrounding 
seas  has,  of  course,  a  most  important  bearing. 

Putting,  however,  the  evidence  of  soundings  on  one  side, 
we  may  endeavour  to  find  out  how  much  light  the  animals 
of  Celebes  are  capable  of  throwing  on  the  problem. 

Those  of  my  readers  who  have  any  acquaintance  with 
the  geographical  'distribution  of  animals,  are  probably  aware 
that  no  marsupials  at  all  are  found  to  the  westward  of 
Celebes,  and  that  to  the  eastward  of  that  island  monkeys 
are  quite  unknown  ;  while  hoofed  animals  are  represented 
only  by  a  deer  in  Timor  and  a  second  in  the  Moluccas, 
and  likewise  by  a  semi-wild  pig  in  Ceram  and  another  in 
New  Guinea.  In  fact,  the  quadrupeds  of  the  Australasian 
region,  with  these  exceptions,  consist  exclusively  of  egg- 
laying  mammals,  marsupials,  and  various  peculiar  kinds  of 


CELEBES:   A   PROBLEM   IN   DISTRIBUTION     in 

rats,  mice,  and  bats;  while,  as  already  said,  their  birds 
include  cassowaries,  cockatoos,  birds  of  paradise,  bower- 
birds,  and  a  host  of  other  kinds  more  or  less  completely 
unknown  in  the  regions  to  the  westward. 

But,  unfortunately,  there  is  another  element  in  the 
problem  which  introduces  a  further  complexity.  The 
Malays  are  bold  and  clever  sailors,  fond  of  voyaging  from 
island  to  island  in  these  summer  seas.  And  they  are  also 
wonderful  adepts  in  taming  animals  of  various  kinds. 
Many  of  these  they  carry  about  with  them  in  their 
voyages — some  probably  for  food  and  others  as  pets. 
When  they  land  on  a  strange  island  some  of  these  animals 
may  occasionally  escape,  or  possibly  may  be  turned  loose 
intentionally.  Now  there  is  a  very  considerable  probability 
that  the  wild  pigs  of  Ceram  and  New  Guinea  have  been 
thus  introduced  ;  and  if  this  be  the  case,  the  fauna  of  the 
Australasian  region  is  made  more  absolutely  distinct  from 
that  of  the  Oriental  province.  The  deer  of  the  Moluccas 
and  Timor  present  a  case  of  greater  difficulty;  but  as  the 
Moluccas  cannot  well  be  separated  from  the  Australasian 
region,  they  would  seem,  in  these  islands  at  least,  to  have 
been  introduced,  and,  if  so,  the  same  will  hold  good  with 
regard  to  certain  smaller  mammals  of  an  Oriental  type, 
such  as  civets. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  consider  how  the  animals 
of  Celebes  compare  with  those  of  the  neighbouring  islands. 
Now,  the  only  mammals  of  a  purely  Australian  type  found 
in  that  island  are  two  species  of  cuscuses — sleepy  creatures, 
with  beautifully  soft  fur,  often  very  brilliantly  coloured, 
and  showing  great  individual  or  sexual  variation  in  the 
markings.  They  are  near  relatives  of  the  so-called 
opossums  (phalangers)  of  Australia,  and  are  entirely  arboreal 
creatures,  passing  the  day  comfortably  coiled  up  in  slumber 


ii2  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

and  feeding  at  night.  If  these  creatures  were  of  a  type 
near  to  that  from  which  the  other  marsupials  of  Australia 
have  sprung,  they  might  be  considered  as  survivors  from 
a  migration  of  marsupials  which  it  has  been  suggested 
took  place  at  a  remote  epoch  from  Asia  to  Australia.  But 
they  are  not  so,  and  it  is  therefore  clear  that  this  hypo- 
thesis will  not  account  for  their  presence  in  the  island. 
As  they  are  so  completely  arboreal  in  their  habits,  they 
are,  however,  just  the  kind  of  creatures  which  we  might 
naturally  expect  to  be  wafted  from  one  island  to  another  on 
floating  timber;  and  it  is  far  from  improbable  that  it  is  to 
this  mode  of  transport  they  owe  their  presence  in  Celebes. 
All  the  other  mammals  are  of  an  Oriental  type,  although 
several  of  them  are  quite  unlike  their  relatives  on  the 
mainland  and  other  islands.  Among  them  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  is  the  babirusa,  a  curious  little  pig  in 
which  the  tusks  of  both  jaws  in  the  males  attain  a  most 
extraordinary  development,  the  lower  ones  rising  straight 
upwards,  while  the  upper  ones  grow  right  through  the 
skull  to  curve  backwards  in  a  bold  sweep  towards  the 
eyes.  Although  nothing  definitely  is  known  as  to  the 
origin  of  this  strange  animal,  yet  it  is  evidently  a  highly 
specialised  offshoot  from  the  ancestral  pigs  of  Asia.  Equally 
peculiar  is  the  tiny  little  black  buffalo,  or  anoa,  described 
in  another  article,  which  is  not  much  larger  than  a  good- 
sized  ram,  and  has  upright  horns  quite  unlike  those  of  the 
ordinary  Asiatic  buffalo.  In  the  island  of  Mindanao,  the 
most  southern  of  the  Philippine  group,  there  is,  however, 
a  considerably  larger  buffalo,  known  as  the  tamarao,  which 
serves  to  connect  the  anoa  with  the  ordinary  Asiatic  species. 
More  important  still  is  the  occurrence  in  the  Tertiary 
deposits  of  Northern  India  of  several  species  of  buffaloes 
intimately  related  to  the  anoa.  Clearly,  then,  this  animal 


CELEBES:   A  PROBLEM   IN   DISTRIBUTION      113 

has  originated  from  an  Oriental  stock,  and  the  occurrence 
of  an  allied  species  in  the  Philippines  tends  to  show  that 
these  islands  were  connected  at  no  very  remote  epoch  with 
Celebes.  Now  the  Philippines  themselves,  as  shown  by 
their  deer,  have  intimate  relationships  with  Borneo,  and 
thus  with  the  mainland. 

The  deer  reported  to  occur  in  the  island  is  a  variety  of 
the  rusa  of  Java,  and  apparently  identical  with  the  form 
found  in  the  Moluccas.  It  is  generally  considered  to  have 
been  introduced,  but  as  Celebes  shows  so  many  signs  of 
affinity  with  the  more  western  Malay  islands  in  its  animals, 
this  does  not  by  any  means  appear  certain.  Anyway,  the 
Moluccan  race  may  well  have  been  exported  from  Celebes 
by  the  Malays. 

The  next  most  noteworthy  animals  in  the  mammalian 
fauna  of  the  island  are  two  species  of  monkeys,  both 
remarkable  for  their  black  colour.  The  first  of  these  is 
the  short-tailed  black  baboon,  a  species  representing  a 
genus  by  itself,  but  with  relationships  to  the  true  baboons 
of  Africa  and  South- West  Asia.  Such  relationship,  from  a 
geographical  point  of  view,  might  seem  difficult  to  account 
for,  and  to  those  who  neglect  the  animals  of  a  past  epoch 
it  would  appear  well-nigh  inexplicable.  But  it  happens 
that  extinct  baboons  occur  in  India ;  and  as  they  doubtless 
also  existed  in  other  parts  of  the  Oriental  region,  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  origin  of  the  Cele- 
besian  representative  of  the  group.  The  other  species — the 
moor  macaque — belongs  to  a  widely  spread  Oriental  genus. 

But  the  most  curious  of  all  the  mammals  of  the  island 
is  a  species  of  tarsier — small  creatures  with  enormous 
goggle  eyes,  slender,  lanky  limbs,  and  toes  terminating 
in  suckers,  distantly  related  to  the  lemurs.  Now,  these 
tarsiers  are  strictly  limited  to  the  islands  of  Sumatra, 

8 


ii4  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Borneo,  Java,  Celebes,  and  Mindanao,  together  with  some 
of  the  neighbouring  islets,  and  are  totally  unknown  to  the 
eastward  of  the  Molucca  Sea.  Although,  being  arboreal 
animals,  it  may  be  argued  that,  like  the  cuscuses  of  Celebes, 
they  may  have  been  carried  about  by  floating  timber,  yet 
it  seems  in  the  highest  degree  unlikely  they  should  have 
reached  all  the  islands  with  an  Oriental  type  of  fauna  and 
avoided  all  those  where  the  true  Australian  type  comes 
in.  Moreover,  they  are  very  delicate  animals,  exceedingly 
difficult  to  keep  alive  in  captivity,  and  there  is  accordingly 
a  strong  probability  that  they  are  native  to  the  islands 
where  they  occur.  Like  so  many  of  its  other  animals,  the 
tarsier  of  Celebes  is  black — as,  indeed,  are  the  species 
from  the  other  islands. 

So  far,  then,  as  their  mammals  are  concerned,  it  seems 
probable  that  at  no  very  distant  epoch  Celebes,  Borneo, 
and  the  Philippines  formed  one  land  area;  while  Borneo 
itself  was  connected  with  the  mainland,  probably  by  way 
of  Sumatra,  the  orang  and  some  other  species  being  common 
to  these  two  islands  and  unknown  elsewhere.  It  is  further 
probable  that  Celebes,  and  most  likely  a  portion  of  the 
Philippines,  became  isolated  before  Borneo  ceased  to  be 
connected  with  Sumatra — or  at  all  events  with  the  main- 
land. Possibly  this  early  separation  may  account  for  a 
very  curious  difference  between  the  fresh-water  fishes  of 
the  two  areas;  Celebes  having  no  carps  (Cyprinidae)  or 
cat-fishes  (Siluridae),  both  of  which  are  abundant  in  Borneo, 
as  in  Asia  generally.  With  regard  to  the  south-western 
portion  of  the  Philippine  group,  it  is  important  to  notice 
that  the  island  of  Palawan  shows  evidence  of  a  closer  con- 
nection with  Borneo  than  with  the  rest  of  the  archipelago 
to  which  it  belongs.  On  the  other  hand,  the  mountains 
of  Luzon,  in  the  Northern  Philippines,  are  the  home  of 


CELEBES:    A   PROBLEM   IN   DISTRIBUTION     115 

a  remarkable  group  of  rats,  some  of  which  show  affinity 
to  those  inhabiting  Australia  ;  and  it  therefore  seems 
highly  likely  that  the  Philippines  mark  a  portion  of  the 
line  by  which  Asia  was  probably  in  communication  at  a 
still  earlier  epoch  with  New  Guinea  and  Australia.  Still, 
there  are  some  difficulties  in  this  view  of  the  case,  because 
the  more  primitive  types  of  marsupials  now  found  in 
Australia  are  at  present  unknown  in  New  Guinea.  Possibly, 
however,  some  still  remain  to  be  discovered  in  the  un- 
explored mountains  of  that  country;  while,  since  the  ex- 
ploration of  the  Luzon  Mountains  by  the  late  Mr.  John 
Whitehead  yielded  such  wonderful  zoological  results,  there 
is  the  possibility  that  when  the  mountains  of  the  other 
islands  have  been  as  carefully  worked  we  may  find  a  few 
marsupials  still  surviving.  Should  such  a  fortunate  "  find  " 
turn  up  we  should  have  much  support  to  the  view  that 
the  ancestors  of  the  present  fauna  of  Australia  travelled 
from  Asia  by  way  of  the  eastern  archipelago. 

There  are  many  other  points  connected  with  the  present 
distribution  of  animal  life  in  this  wonderful  region,  and 
their  bearing  on  the  former  relations  of  the  various  islands 
to  one  another,  to  which  the  limits  of  this  article  forbid 
reference.  A  word  may,  however,  be  said  in  reference  to 
Timor,  which,  as  already  mentioned,  forms  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  line  of  the  Sunda  Islands — that  is  to  say, 
the  line  including  Sumatra,  Java,  and  Flores,  which  is 
evidently  a  broken-up  peninsula.  By  most  writers  that 
portion  of  the  chain  lying  to  the  eastward  of  Java  and 
Bali  has  been  assigned  to  the  Australasian  region,  and  it 
has  consequently  been  assumed  that  the  deer  found  in 
Timor  must  have  been  introduced  by  man.  Timor  and 
Flores  also  contain  several  other  mammals  common  to  the 
Oriental  region,  notably  a  monkey,  a  civet,  a  porcupine, 


n6  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

and  a  palm-civet ;  and  although  it  is  quite  possible  that 
they  may  have  been  introduced  by  the  Malays  (as  some  of 
them  appear  to  have  been  into  the  Moluccas),  the  absence 
of  any  typically  Australasian  mammals  except  a  cuscus 
(whose  presence  may  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  way  as 
in  Celebes)  is,  to  say  the  least,  very  remarkable.  More- 
over, the  birds  of  Timor  show  at  least  as  many  Oriental 
as  Australasian  features,  and  it  accordingly  seems  more 
consonant  with  the  known  facts  to  regard  the  whole 
chain  of  the  Sunda  Islands,  which  are  geographically  one, 
as  having  formed  a  part  of  the  old  Asiatic  continent. 

Possibly  my  readers  may  think  I  have  written  a  very 
dull  and  uninteresting  article,  and  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
very  little  importance  indeed  what  were  the  former  relations 
of  a  number  of  obscure  Malay  islands.  And  in  one  sense 
this  is  undoubtedly  the  case.  But  all  those  who  have  once 
essayed  the  study  of  the  distribution  of  animals  cannot  fail 
to  be  fascinated  by  the  problems  it  presents;  and  in  no 
case  are  these  problems  more  difficult  to  solve  than  in  the 
eastern  islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago.  As  evidence  of 
the  interest  attaching  to  Celebes,  I  cannot  do  better  than 
conclude  by  an  extract  from  Dr.  Wallace's  "  Island  Life." 

"There  is  no  other  example,"  it  is  written,  "on  the 
globe  of  an  island  so  closely  surrounded  by  other  islands 
on  every  side,  yet  preserving  such  a  marked  individuality 
in  its  forms  of  life ;  while,  as  regards  the  special  features 
which  characterise  its  insects,  it  is,  so  far  as  is  yet  known, 
absolutely  unique.  Unfortunately,  very  little  is  known  of 
the  botany  of  Celebes,  but  it  seems  probable  that  its  plants 
will  to  some  extent  partake  of  the  speciality  which  so 
markedly  distinguishes  its  animals;  and  there  is  here  a 
rich  field  for  any  botanist  who  is  able  to  penetrate  to  the 
forest-clad  mountains  of  its  interior." 


. 
A   DROWNED   CONTINENT 

A  FEW  years  ago  deep  boring  operations  were  undertaken 
in  the  island  of  Funafuti,  in  the  Ellice  group  of  Polynesia, 
with  the  primary  object  of  ascertaining  the  depth  to  which 
coral-rock,  or  limestone  of  coral  origin,  extends.  As  it  was 
found  that  such  coral-made  material  extended  to  depths 
far  below  the  level  at  which  living  coral  can  exist,  evidence 
was  afforded  that  the  island  had  subsided.  And  as  sub- 
sidence was  thus  proved  to  have  taken  place  in  a  single 
island  selected  almost  at  random,  the  conclusion  could 
hardly  be  resisted  that  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole, 
of  Polynesia  must  likewise  be  a  subsiding  area,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  remnants  of  a  drowned  continent,  some  of  the 
higher  lands  of  which  are  indicated  by  the  atolls  and  other 
islands  of  the  Coral  Sea.  This  raises  the  whole  question  as 
to  the  permanence  or  otherwise  of  the  great  oceanic  basins 
and  continental  areas  of  the  globe  :  a  subject,  it  need 
scarcely  be  said,  having  not  only  an  intense  interest  of  its 
own,  but  also  one  of  the  utmost  importance  in  regard  to 
many  puzzling  problems  connected  with  the  present  and 
past  geographical  distribution  of  terrestrial  animals  and 
plants  on  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

Although  it  might  well  have  been  thought  that  opinion 
in  scientific  matters  would  be  unlikely  to  veer  suddenly 
round,  and  after  tending  strongly  in  one  direction  incline 
with  equal  force  in  the  one  immediately  opposite,  yet 

117 


u8  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

there  are  few  instances  where  the  swing  of  the  pendulum 
of  opinion  to  one  side  has  been  more  swiftly  followed  by 
its  oscillation  to  the  other  than  has  been  the  case  in  the 
problem  of  the  permanency  of  continents  and  oceans. 
When  geology  first  began  to  take  rank  among  the  exact 
sciences,  and  it  was  demonstrated  that  most  of  the  shells 
and  other  fossils  found  in  the  solid  rocks  of  many  of 
our  continents  and  islands  were  of  marine  origin,  it  was  a 
natural,  if  hasty,  conclusion  that  land  and  sea  had  been 
perpetually  changing  places,  and  that  what  is  now  the 
centre  of  a  continent  might  comparatively  recently  have 
been  an  ocean  abyss.  Accordingly,  when  any  difficulty 
in  finding  an  adequate  explanation  in  regard  to  the 
geographical  distribution  of  the  animals  or  plants  of  two 
or  more  continents  or  islands  occurred,  the  aid  of  an 
"  Atlantis  "  or  a  "  Lemuria "  was  at  once  invoked  without 
misgiving,  and  a  path  thus  indicated  across  which  the 
inhabitants  of  one  isolated  area  could  easily  have  passed 
to  another. 

This  was  one  swing  of  the  pendulum.  But  as  the 
methods  of  geological  observation  and  investigation  became 
more  exact  and  critical,  it  was  soon  obvious  that,  in  many 
areas  at  least,  the  alternations  between  sea  and  land  could 
not  have  been  so  frequent  or  so  general  as  had  been  at 
first  supposed.  It  was,  indeed,  perfectly  true  that  many 
portions  of  some  of  our  present  continents  had  for  long 
periods  been  submerged,  or  had  been  at  intervals  alter- 
nately land  and  sea.  But  at  the  same  time  it  began  to 
be  realised  that  the  fossiliferous  marine  deposits  commonly 
met  with  on  continents  and  large  islands  were  not  of  such 
a  nature  that  they  could  have  been  laid  down  in  depths 
at  all  comparable  to  those  now  existing  in  certain  parts  of 
the  basin  of  the  Atlantic.  Even  a  formation  like  our 


A   DROWNED   CONTINENT  119 

English  chalk,  which  had  been  supposed  to  have  analogies 
with  the  modern  Atlantic  deposits,  appears  to  have  been 
laid  down  in  a  sea  of  much  less  depth  and  extent,  and 
probably  more  nearly  comparable  with  the  modern  Medi- 
terranean. Then,  again,  it  was  found  that  large  tracts  in 
some  of  our  present  continents,  such  as  Africa  and  India, 
had  existed  as  dry  land  throughout  a  very  considerable 
portion  of  geological  time.  Moreover,  it  was  asserted  that 
no  formations  exactly  comparable  to  those  now  in  course 
of  deposition  in  the  ocean  abysses  could  be  detected  in 
any  of  our  existing  continents  or  islands  ;  while  it  was 
further  urged  that  in  none  of  the  so-called  oceanic  islands 
(that  is,  those  rising  from  great  depths  at  long  distances 
from  the  continental  areas)  were  there  either  fossiliferous 
or  metamorphic  rbcks  similar  to  those  of  the  continents 
and  larger  continental  islands. 

This  was  the  second  swing  of  the  pendulum,  and  for  a 
long  period  it  was  confidently  asserted  that  where  con- 
tinents now  exist  there  had  never  been  any  excessive 
depth  of  ocean ;  and,  conversely,  that  in  the  areas  now 
occupied  by  the  great  ocean  abysses  there  had  never  been 
land  during  any  of  the  later  geological  epochs.  It  was, 
indeed,  practically  affirmed  that  wherever  the  sounding-line 
indicates  a  thousand  fathoms  or  more  of  water,  there  sea 
had  been  practically  always,  and  that  no  part  of  the 
present  continents  had  ever  been  submerged  to  anything 
like  that  depth. 

Almost  as  soon  as  the  pendulum  of  opinion  had  attained 
the  full  limits  of  its  swing  in  this  direction  (and  this  swing 
had  been  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  geologists  and 
physicists),  there  began  to  be  signs  of  its  return  to  a  less 
extreme  position.  It  was,  in  the  first  place,  proved  that 
a  few  deposits — and  these  of  comparatively  recent  date — 


120  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

analogous  to  those  of  the  ocean  abysses  do  occur  in 
certain  areas.  And,  in  the  second  place,  it  was  shown 
that  a  few  oceanic  islands  do  contain  rocks  like  those  of 
the  continents,  and  are  not  solely  of  volcanic  or  organic 
origin.  Zoological  and  palaeontological  discoveries  were  at 
the  same  time  making  rapid  advances;  and  the  students 
of  these  branches  of  science,  who  had  been  among  the 
foremost  in  giving  the  swing  of  the  pendulum  on  the  side 
of  continental  instability  its  first  impulse,  now  began  to 
press  their  views — only  in  a  more  moderate  manner — in 
the  same  direction.  Evidence  had  long  been  accumulating 
as  to  the  identity  of  certain  fresh-water  formations  and 
their  included  animal  and  plant  remains  occurring  in  South 
America,  South  Africa,  India,  and  Australia ;  and  it  was 
urged  that  during  the  Secondary  period  of  geological  history 
not  only  was  Africa  connected  with  India  by  way  of 
Madagascar  and  the  Seychelles,  but  that  land  extended 
across  what  is  now  the  South  Atlantic  to  connect  the  Cape 
with  South  America,  and  that  probably  India  was  likewise 
joined  to  Australia  by  way  of  the  Malay  Archipelago  and 
islands.  In  fact,  there  seems  good  evidence  to  indicate  that 
at  this  early  epoch  there  was  a  land  girdle  in  comparatively 
low  latitudes  encircling  some  three-fourths  of  the  earth's 
circumference  from  Peru  to  New  Zealand  and  Fiji. 

Even  taking  into  account  its  comparatively  early  date, 
the  existence  of  this  girdle  of  land,  the  evidence  in  favour 
of  which  can  scarcely  be  shaken,  gave  a  heavy  blow  to 
the  adherents  of  the  absolute  permanency  of  continents 
and  oceans,  as  it  clearly  indicates  the  relatively  modern 
origin  of  the  basin  of  the  South  Atlantic.  But  this  is  not 
all :  South  America,  which,  as  mentioned  in  an  earlier  article, 
was  once  more  or  less  completely  cut  off  from  the  northern 
half  of  the  New  World,  shows  certain  indications  of  affinity 


A   DROWNED   CONTINENT  121 

in  its  fauna  with  that  of  Europe  in  early  Tertiary  times, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  with  that  of  modern  Africa  ;  and 
the  most  satisfactory  way  of  explaining  these  relationships 
is  by  assuming  either  the  persistence  of  a  land  connection 
between  the  Cape  and  South  America  across  the  South 
Atlantic  till  a  comparatively  late  geological  epoch,  or  that 
such  connection  took  place  farther  south  by  means  of  the 
Antarctic  continent.  There  are  several  objections,  which 
need  not  be  considered  here,  in  regard  to  the  latter  alter- 
native, and  since  there  is  other  evidence  in  favour  of  the 
comparatively  recent  origin  of  the  South  Atlantic  depres- 
sion, the  persistence  of  a  land  connection  in  lower 
latitudes  seems  the  more  probable  explanation. 

In  addition  to  all  this  there  are  indications  of  a  relation- 
ship between  the  land  faunas  of  Australasia  and  South 
America;  and  as  similar  types  are  not  met  with  in  Africa, 
and  several  of  them  belong  to  groups  unlikely  to  have 
endured  Antarctic  cold,  it  has  been  suggested  that  America 
and  Australasia  were  in  connection  at  no  very  remote  epoch 
by  way  of  the  Coral  Sea.  It  is  known,  for  instance,  that 
some  of  the  Australian  marsupials  are  more  or  less  closely 
allied  to  others  which  inhabited  South  America  before  it 
was  connected  with  North  America ;  and  as  no  kindred 
types  are  met  with  either  in  the  latter  area,  in  Europe, 
or  in  Africa,  a  land  connection  by  way  of  the  South  Pacific, 
and  that  at  a  comparatively  recent  epoch,  offers  almost  the 
only  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  means  of  transit,  if  the 
Antarctic  theory  be  rejected.  And  it  may  be  mentioned 
in  passing  that  the  acceptance  of  even  the  latter  would 
imply  a  large  modification  from  the  existing  distribution 
of  land  and  water  in  the  southern  hemisphere.  Similar 
evidence  is  afforded  by  certain  extinct  tortoises  common 
to  South  America  and  Australia, 


122  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

But  the  evidence  for  a  land  connection  by  way  of  the 
Pacific  does  not  by  any  means  rest  on  the  testimony  of 
marsupials  and  tortoises  alone.  Passing  over  certain 
groups,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  earthworms  of 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  strangely  like  those  of 
Patagonia,  and  have  no  very  near  relatives  in  Africa ; 
while  an  almost  equally  strong  affinity  is  stated  to  exist 
between  the  Patagonian  and  Polynesian  land-slugs.  Neither 
of  these  groups  of  animals  are  fitted  to  withstand  the  cold 
of  high  latitudes,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  members 
of  the  second,  at  any  rate,  could  have  reached  the  two 
areas  by  any  other  means  than  a  direct  land  connection. 

Turning  to  the  reports  of  the  Funafuti  boring,  it  appears 
that  this  has  been  carried  far  below  the  limits  of  coral 
life,  and  was  still  in  coral  limestone.  So  far,  therefore, 
the  advocates  of  the  theory  that  Polynesia  is  the  remains 
of  a  sunken  continent  have  scored  a  great  triumph ;  and 
although  there  is  still  the  possibility  that  some  of  the 
atolls  in  this  vast  area  may  prove  to  be  perched  on  the 
denuded  summits  of  extinct  submarine  volcanoes,  even 
this  would  not  interfere  with  the  general  conclusion.  If 
deeper  borings  should  result  in  touching  rocks  more  or 
less  similar  to  ordinary  continental  sedimentary  deposits 
or  metamorphic  crystallines,  an  even  firmer  basis  would 
be  afforded  to  the  hypothesis  of  subsidence  which  has 
now  received  such  striking  confirmation. 

As  the  result  of  the  boring,  it  appears,  then,  that  there 
is  a  possibility  that  the  community  between  the  South 
American  and  Australasian  faunas  may  admit  of  being 
explained  by  means  of  a  direct  land  connection  between 
the  two  areas  at  a  comparatively  recent  geological  date. 
Even,  however,  if  this  explanation  receive  future  support 
and  acceptation,  there  are,  as  in  all  similar  cases,  still 


A   DROWNED   CONTINENT  123 

many  difficulties  with  which  to  contend.  One  of  these 
is  the  practical  absence  of  all  non-volant  mammals  from 
Polynesia,  with  the  exception  of  the  Solomon  group,  where 
a  few  cuscuses  and  rats  are  found.  But  the  case  of  the 
West  Indies — where  there  is  every  probability  that  there 
was  formerly  a  large  mammalian  fauna,  the  majority  of 
which  were  drowned  by  submergence — may  very  likely 
afford  the  solution  of  the  difficulty.  Worms  and  slugs 
would  probably  find  means  of  survival  in  circumstances 
where  mammalian  life  would  disappear.  This  explanation 
will,  however,  clearly  not  apply  in  the  case  of  New  Zealand, 
where,  if  mammals  had  ever  existed,  their  remains  would 
almost  certainly  have  been  discovered.  It  must  be  assumed, 
then,  that  if  Polynesia  was  the  route  by  which  the  faunas 
of  Australia  and  Patagonia  were  formerly  connected,  New 
Zealand  was  at  that  time  isolated.  And,  indeed,  seeing 
that  the  presumed  land  connection  between  the  areas  in 
question  must  have  existed  at  a  comparatively  late  epoch, 
it  is  most  likely  that  the  ancient  Polynesian  land  was 
already  broken  up  to  a  considerable  extent  into  islands  and 
archipelagos,  so  that  the  main  line  of  communication  may 
have  been  but  narrow,  and  from  time  to  time  interrupted. 
Indeed,  it  must  almost  of  necessity  have  been  very  in- 
complete and  of  short  duration  after  the  introduction  of 
modern  forms  of  life,  as  otherwise  the  types  common  to 
Australia  and  Patagonia  would  have  been  much  more 
numerous  than  we  find  to  be  the  case.  Hence  there  is 
no  improbability  in  the  suggested  isolation  of  New  Zealand 
during  the  period  in  question. 

But,  putting  these  interesting  speculations  aside,  the 
results  of  the  Funafuti  boring  indicate  almost  without 
doubt  that  Polynesia  is  an  area  of  comparatively  recent 
subsidence,  and  it  has  already  been  mentioned  that  there 


i24  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

are  good  reasons  for  regarding  a  large  part  of  the  basin 
of  the  South  Atlantic  as  of  no  great  antiquity,  while  the 
area  of  the  Indian  Ocean  seems  to  have  been  considerably 
enlarged  during  the  later  geological  epochs.  Apparently, 
therefore,  the  great  extent  of  ocean  at  present  characteristic 
of  the  southern  hemisphere  is  a  relatively  modern  feature. 

Hence  it  is  clear  that  the  extreme  views  prevalent  a  few 
years  ago  as  to  the  absolute  permanency  of  the  existing 
continental  and  oceanic  areas  stand  in  need  of  some 
degree  of  modification.  And  what  we  have  now  to  avoid 
is  that  the  pendulum  should  not  once  more  take  too  long 
a  swing  in  the  opposite  direction. 

So  far  as  the  great  continental  masses  of  the  northern 
hemisphere  are  concerned,  it  would  appear  that  portions 
of  these  have  always  existed  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent 
as  land.  But  the  great  extent  and  homogeneous  character 
of  formations  like  the  Mountain  Limestone,  the  Chalk,  and 
the  Nummulitic  Limestone,  suggest  that  sea  was  much 
more  prevalent  in  this  area  than  it  is  at  present,  and  that, 
so  far  as  the  Old  World  is  concerned,  the  continental  area 
has  been  growing.  The  North  Atlantic,  and  probably  also 
the  North  Pacific,  may  apparently  be  regarded  as  basins 
of  great  antiquity.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  southern 
hemisphere,  although  Africa,  parts  of  Australia,  and  at 
least  some  portions  of  South  America,  are  evidently  land 
surfaces  of  great  antiquity,  they,  together  with  the  islands 
of  the  Coral  Sea,  seem  to  be  mere  remnants  of  a  much 
more  extensive  southern  continent  or  continents.  Con- 
versely the  southern  oceans  have  gained  in  area  by  swallow- 
ing up  these  long-lost  lands.  Obviously,  then,  although 
true  in  a  degree,  continental  permanency  has  not  been 
the  only  factor  in  the  evolution  of  the  present  surface  of 
the  globe, 


DESERTS    AND    THEIR    INHABITANTS 

IF  popular  errors  connected  with  matters  scientific  are  hard 
to  kill,  still  more  is  this  the  case  when  the  erroneous 
opinions  have  been  held  by  scientists  themselves.  The 
idea  that  flints  and  other  stones  grow  is,  I  have  good 
reason  to  believe,  still  far  from  extinct  among  the  non- 
scientific,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  there  are  persons 
possessing  some  acquaintance  with  science  who  still  cherish 
the  belief  that  deserts  are  uninterrupted  plains  of  smooth 
sand,  originally  deposited  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  from 
which  they  have  been  raised  at  a  comparatively  recent 
epoch.  At  any  rate,  there  are  several  books,  published 
not  very  many  years  ago,  in  which  it  is  stated  in  so  many 
words  that  the  Sahara  represents  the  bed  of  an  ancient 
sea,  which  formerly  separated  Northern  Africa  from  the 
regions  to  the  southward  of  the  tropics. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  opinions  with  regard  to  the 
origin  and  nature  of  deserts  are  scarcely,  if  at  all,  less 
erroneous  than  the  deeply  ingrained  popular  superstition 
as  to  the  growth  of  flints  and  pudding-stones.  And  a 
little  reflection  will  show  that  the  idea  of  the  loose  sands 
of  the  desert  being  a  marine  deposit  must  necessarily  be 
erroneous.  Apart  from  the  difficulty  of  accounting  for  the 
accumulation  of  such  vast  tracts  of  sand  on  the  marine 
hypothesis,  it  will  be  noticed,  in  the  first  place,  that  desert- 
sands  are  not  stratified  in  the  manner  characteristic  of 


126  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

aqueous  formations ;  and,  secondly,  even  supposing  that 
they  had  been  so  deposited,  they  would  almost  certainly 
have  been  washed  away  as  the  land  rose  from  beneath 
the  sea.  Then,  again,  we  do  not  meet  with  marine  shells 
in  the  desert-sands,  of  which  at  least  some  traces  ought 
to  have  been  left  had  they  been  marine  deposits  of  com- 
paratively modern  age. 

Whether  or  no  the  subjacent  strata  have  ever  been 
beneath  the  ocean,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  the  sands 
of  all  the  great  deserts  of  the  world  have  been  formed  in 
situ  by  the  disintegration  of  the  solid  rocks  on  which  they 
rest,  and  have  been  blown  about  and  rearranged  by  the 
action  of  wind  alone.  All  deserts  are  situated  in  districts 
where  the  winds  blowing  from  the  ocean's  surface  have 
to  pass  over  mountains  or  extensive  tracts  of  land,  which 
drain  them  more  or  less  completely  of  their  load  of 
moisture.  Hence,  in  the  desert  itself,  when  of  the  typical 
kind,  little  or  no  rain  falls,  and  there  is  consequently 
no  flow  of  water  to  wash  away  the  debris  resulting  from 
the  action  of  the  atmosphere  on  the  rocks  below. 

In  other  words,  as  has  been  well  said,  desert-sands 
correspond  in  all  respects,  so  far  as  their  mode  of  origin 
is  concerned,  to  the  dust  and  sand  which  accumulate  on 
our  high  roads  during  a  dry  summer.  On  our  highways, 
indeed,  the  summer's  dust  and  sand  are  removed  by  the 
rains  of  autumn  and  winter,  only  to  be  renewed  the  following 
season ;  but  in  a  desert  no  such  removal  takes  place,  and 
the  amount  of  sand  increases  year  by  year,  owing  to  the 
disintegration  of  the  solid  rock  here  and  there  exposed. 

Only  one  degree  less  untrue  than  the  idea  of  their 
submarine  origin  is  the  notion  that  deserts  consist  of 
unbroken  tracts  of  sand.  It  is  true  that  such  tracts  in 
certain  districts  may  extend  on  every  side  as  far  as  the 


DESERTS   AND   THEIR   INHABITANTS          127 

eye  can  reach,  and  even  much  farther ;  but  sooner  or 
later  ridges  and  bands  of  pebbles,  or  of  solid  rock,  will 
be  met  with  cropping  up  among  the  sand,  while  fre- 
quently, as  in  the  Libyan  Desert,  there  are  mountain 
ranges  rising  to  a  height  of  several  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  plain.  And  it  is  these  exposed  rocks 
which  form  the  source  whence  the  sand  was,  and  still  is, 
derived.  These  mountains  naturally  attract  what  moisture 
may  remain  in  the  air,  and  in  their  valleys  are  found  a 
more  or  less  luxuriant  vegetation.  Oases,  too,  where  the 
soil  is  more  or  less  clayey,  occur  in  most  deserts ;  and  it 
is  in  such  spots  that  animal  and  vegetable  life  attains 
the  maximum  development  possible  in  the  heart  of  the 
desert. 

In  the  most  arid  and  typical  part  of  the  Libyan  Desert 
the  sand  is  blown  into  large  dunes,  which  are  frequently 
flat-topped,  and  show  horizontal  bands  of  imperfectly  con- 
solidated rock ;  and  between  these  are  open  valleys,  partly 
covered  with  sand  and  partly  strewn  with  blocks  of  rock 
polished  and  scored  by  the  sand-blast.  In  such  sand- 
wastes  the  traveller  may  journey  for  days  without  seeing 
signs  of  vegetation  or  hearing  the  call  of  a  bird  or  the 
hum  of  an  insect's  wing.  But  even  in  many  of  such  dis- 
tricts it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  vegetable  and  animal 
life  is  entirely  absent  throughout  the  year.  In  the  western 
Sahara,  for  instance,  showers  generally  moisten  the  ground 
two  or  three  times  a  year;  and  after  each  of  these  a 
short-lived  vegetation  springs  suddenly  up,  and  if  no  other 
form  of  animal  life  is  observable,  at  least  a  few  passing 
birds  may  be  noticed. 

Among  the  most  important  and  extensive  deserts  of  the 
world  we  have  first  the  great  Sahara,  with  an  approximate 
area  of  sixteen  thousand  square  miles,  nearly  connected 


128  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

with  which  is  the  great  desert  tract  extending  through 
Arabia,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  Persia.  By  means  of 
the  more  or  less  desert  tracts  of  Baluchistan,  Sind,  and 
Kuch,  this  area  leads  on  to  the  great  Rajputana  Desert 
of  India.  More  important  is  the  vast  Gobi  Desert  of 
Mongolia,  and  other  parts  of  Central  Asia.  In  Southern 
Africa  there  is  the  great  Kalahari  Desert,  of  which  more 
anon.  In  North  America  there  is  a  large  desert  tract 
lying  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  including  a  great 
part  of  Sonora;  while  in  the  southern  half  of  the  New 
World  there  is  the  desert  of  Atacama,  on  the  borders  of 
Peru  and  Chili.  Lastly,  the  whole  of  the  interior  of 
Australia  is  desert  of  the  most  arid  and  typical  description. 
But  among  these  there  are  deserts  and  deserts.  Tracts 
of  the  typical  barren,  sandy  type  are,  as  already  said, 
extensively  developed  in  the  Sahara,  as  they  are  in  the 
Gobi  and  the  Australian  deserts.  Between  such  and  the 
plains  of  the  African  veldt  there  is  an  almost  complete 
transition,  so  that  it  is  sometimes  hard  to  say  whether 
a  given  tract  rightly  comes  under  the  designation  of  a 
desert  at  all.  A  case  in  point  is  afforded  by  the  South 
African  Kalahari.  Although  there  are  endless  rolling  dunes 
of  trackless  sand,  and  rivers  are  unknown,  yet  in  many 
places  there  is  extensive  forest,  and  after  a  rain  large 
tracts  could  scarcely  be  called  a  desert  at  all.  Mr.  H.  A. 
Bryden,  for  instance,  when  describing  the  Kalahari,  writes 
as  follows  :  "  And  yet,  during  the  brief  weeks  of  rainfall, 
no  land  can  assume  a  fairer  or  more  tempting  aspect. 
The  long  grasses  shoot  up  green,  succulent,  and  elbow- 
deep  ;  flowers  spangle  the  veldt  in  every  direction  ;  the 
giraffe-acacia  forests,  robed  in  a  fresh  dark  green,  remind 
one  of  nothing  so  much  as  an  English  deer-park ;  the 
bushes  blossom  and  flourish ;  the  air  is  full  of  fragrance  ; 


DESERTS   AND   THEIR   INHABITANTS          129 

and  pans  of  water  lie  upon  every  hand.  Another  month 
and  all  is  drought;  the  pans  are  dry  again,  and  travel  is 
full  "of  difficulty."  During  the  grassy  season  herds  of 
springbok  used  to  migrate  in  the  old  days  to  the  Kala- 
hari, in  the  northern  part  of  which  giraffes  live  the  whole 
year,  although  they  must  exist  without  tasting  water  for 
months. 

Although  such  a  district  can  scarcely  be  termed  a 
desert  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  yet  its  sands  have 
precisely  the  same  origin  as  those  of  deserts  of  the  typical 
description. 

For  sand  to  accumulate  to  the  depths  in  which  it  occurs 
in  many  parts  of  the  Sahara  and  the  Gobi  by  the  slow 
disintegration  of  the  solid  rocks  under  the  action  of 
atmospheric  agencies  must  require  an  enormous  amount 
of  time,  to  be  reckoned  certainly  by  thousands,  and,  for  all 
we  know,  possibly  by  millions  of  years.  And  we  accord- 
ingly arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  larger  desert  tracts 
must  not  only  have  existed  as  land  for  an  incalculable  period, 
but  also  as  desert.  Hence  we  can  readily  understand  why 
the  animals  of  Algeria  and  the  rest  of  Northern  Africa 
differ  for  the  most  part  from  that  portion  of  the  continent 
lying  to  the  south  of  the  northern  tropic,  the  Sahara 
having  for  ages  acted  as  an  impassable  barrier  to  most,  if 
not  all. 

But  if  other  evidence  were  requisite,  there  is  another 
reason  which  would  alone  suffice  to  compel  us  to  regard 
deserts  as  areas  of  great  antiquity.  The  habitable  parts 
of  all  deserts — and  it  is  difficult  for  the  inexperienced 
to  realise  that  barren  tracts  will  suffice  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  animal  life — are  the  dwelling-places  of  many 
animals  whose  colour  has  become  specially  modified  to  the 
needs  of  their  environment.  And  it  will  be  quite  obvious 

9 


130  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

that  such  modifications  of  colour,  especially  when  they 
occur  in  animals  belonging  to  many  widely  sundered 
groups,  cannot  have  taken  place  suddenly,  but  must  have 
been  due  to  very  gradual  changes  as  the  particular 
species  adapted  itself  more  and  more  completely  to  a 
desert  existence. 

To  obtain  an  idea  of  the  type  of  coloration  character- 
istic of  the  smaller  desert  animals,  the  reader  cannot  do 
better  than  pay  a  visit  to  the  Natural  History  branch  of 
the  British  Museum,  where,  in  the  Central  Hall,  he  will 
find  a  case  devoted  to  the  display  of  a  group  from  the 
Egyptian  desert,  mounted,  so  far  as  possible,  according 
to  their  natural  surroundings. 

Among  such  animals  may  be  mentioned  the  beautiful 
little  rodents  respectively  known  as  jerboas  and  gerbils, 
together  with  various  birds,  such  as  sand-grouse,  the 
cream-coloured  courser,  the  desert-lark,  desert-finches,  and 
desert-chat,  and  also  various  small  snakes  and  lizards, 
among  the  latter  being  the  common  skink.  Although 
some  of  the  birds  retain  the  black  wing-quills  of  their 
allies,  in  all  these  creatures  the  general  tone  of  coloration 
is  extremely  pale,  browns,  fawns,  russets,  olives,  greys, 
with  more  or  less  of  black  and  pink,  being  the  pre- 
dominant tones ;  and  how  admirably  these  harmonise  with 
the  inanimate  surroundings  one  glance  at  the  case  in  the 
Museum  is  sufficient  to  demonstrate.  Very  significant 
among  these  are  the  desert-finches  (Erythrospiza\  which 
belong  to  the  brightly  coloured  group  of  rose-finches, 
one  of  these  specially  modified  species  ranging  from  the 
Canaries  through  the  Sahara  and  Egypt  to  the  Punjab, 
while  the  second  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  Mongolian  desert. 
Among  larger  animals,  a  considerable  number  of  the 
gazelles  are  desert-dwellers,  these  including  the  palest- 


DESERTS   AND   THEIR   INHABITANTS          131 

coloured  members  of  the  group ;  and  lions  are  likewise 
to  a  great  extent  inhabitants  of  deserts — as,  indeed,  is 
true  of  tawny  and  pale-coloured  animals  in  general. 

All  the  animals  above  mentioned  belong,  however,  to 
widely  spread  groups,  which  are  common  to  the  desert 
tracts  of  both  Africa  and  Asia,  and  they  do  not,  therefore, 
serve  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  any  particular  desert,  as 
they  or  their  ancestors  might  have  (and  probably  did) 
migrate  from  one  desert  to  another.  Birds  of  such  groups 
are,  of  course,  even  more  untrustworthy  than  mammals, 
owing  to  their  power  of  flight.  And  among  those  referred 
to,  some,  such  as  the  sand-grouse,  can  scarcely  claim  to 
be  regarded  as  exclusively  desert  birds,  since  they  are 
partial  to  any  open  sandy  plains,  like  those  of  the  Punjab, 
or  even  Norfolk. 

The  case  is,  however,  very  different  with  certain  of  the 
larger  mammals,  a  notable  instance  being  afforded  by  the 
antelopes  allied  to  the  South  African  gemsbok  (Oryx). 
All  the  members  of  this  group  are  inhabitants  of  more  or 
less  sandy  open  districts,  and  never  range  eastwards  of 
Arabia,  or  possibly  Bushire.  The  gemsbok  itself,  together 
with  the  beisa  of  Eastern  and  North-eastern  Africa,  are 
inhabitants  of  districts  which  do  not,  for  the  most  part, 
come  under  the  designation  of  typical  deserts.  And  we 
accordingly  find  that  both  are  by  no  means  very  pale- 
coloured  animals,  while  both  are  remarkable  for  the  bold 
bands  of  sable  ornamenting  their  face  and  limbs.  On  the 
borders  of  the  Sahara  there  occurs,  however,  a  very 
different  member  of  the  group — the  sabre-horned  oryx 
(O.  leucoryx) — differing  from  the  others  by  its  curving  horns, 
and  likewise  by  the  extreme  pallor  of  its  coloration,  which 
is  mostly  dirty  white,  with  pale  chestnut  on  the  neck  and 
under-parts.  Obviously  this  species  has  been  specially 


132  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

modified  as  regards  coloration  for  the  exigencies  of  a  purely 
desert  existence,  and  as  it  is  also  structurally  very  different 
from  all  its  existing  kindred,  it  must  clearly  be  looked  upon 
as  a  very  ancient  type,  which  commenced  its  adaptation  to 
the  surroundings  of  the  Sahara  ages  and  ages  ago.  The 
Arabian  desert  is  the  home  of  another  species  of  oryx 
(O.  beatrix),  which,  although  more  nearly  allied  to  the 
East  African  beisa,  is  a  much  smaller  and  paler-coloured 
creature.  In  this  case  also  there  would  seem  little  doubt 
that  the  period  when  this  animal  first  took  to  a  purely  desert 
existence  must  have  been  extremely  remote. 

But  an  even  more  striking  instance  is  afforded  by 
another  antelope  remotely  connected  with  the  gemsbok, 
which  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  Sahara  and  the  Arabian 
desert,  and  is  commonly  known  as  the  addax.  It  is  an 
isolated  creature,  with  no  near  relation  in  the  wide  world, 
and  is  easily  recognised  by  its  dirty  white  colour,  shaggy 
mane,  and  long  twisted  horns.  It  must  have  branched  off 
at  a  very  remote  epoch  from  the  gemsbok  stock,  and 
affords  almost  conclusive  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
deserts  it  inhabits,  as  we  have  no  evidence  of  the  occurrence 
of  allied  extinct  species  in  other  countries. 

Some  degree  of  caution  is,  however,  necessary  in  drawing 
conclusions  that  all  isolated  desert  animals  have  been 
evolved  in  the  precise  districts  they  now  inhabit.  A  case 
in  point  is  afforded  by  the  saiga,  a  pale-coloured  antelope 
without  any  very  near  kindred,  inhabiting  the  steppes  of 
Eastern  Russia  and  certain  parts  of  Siberia,  where  it  is 
accompanied  by  the  hopping  Kirghiz  jerboa  (Alactaga). 
Now,  since  fossilised  remains  of  both  these  very  peculiar 
animals  have  been  discovered  in  the  superficial  deposits  of 
the  south-eastern  counties  of  England,  it  is  a  fair  inference 
that  physical  conditions  similar  to  those  of  the  steppes 


DESERTS   AND  THEIR  INHABITANTS         133 

(which,  by  the  way,  are  by  no  means  true  deserts) 
obtained  in  that  part  of  our  own  country  at  an  earlier 
epoch  of  its  history.  From  their  comparatively  isolated 
position  in  the  zoological  system,  as  well  as  from  their 
occurrence  in  the  strata  referred  to,  both  these  desert 
animals  evidently  indicate  very  ancient  types,  and  they 
accordingly  serve  to  show  not  only  that  the  semi-desert 
steppe  area  formerly  had  a  much  greater  western  extension 
than  at  present,  but  probably  also  that  the  existing  portion 
of  that  area  dates  from  a  very  remote  epoch.  Hence 
they  confirm  the  idea  of  the  early  origin  of  the  present 
deserts  of  the  Old  World  and  their  inhabitants. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  the  foregoing  that  the  deserts 
and  steppes  of  Africa  and  Asia  possess  a  large  number  of 
animals  belonging  either  to  species  which  have  no  very 
near  living  relatives,  or  to  altogether  peculiar  genera.  In 
the  Arizona  Desert  of  the  Sonoran  area  of  North  America 
it  seems,  however,  to  be  the  case  that  its  fauna  is  largely 
composed  of  animals  much  more  nearly  related  to  those 
inhabiting  the  prairie  or  forest-lands  of  the  adjacent 
districts,  of  which,  in  many  cases  at  any  rate,  they  con- 
stitute mere  local  races  distinguished  by  their  paler  and 
more  sandy  type  of  coloration.  This  is  well  exemplified 
by  the  mule-deer,  which  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  a 
comparatively  dark  and  richly  coloured  animal,  but  be- 
comes markedly  paler  on  the  confines  of  the  Arizona  Desert, 
assuming  again  a  more  rich  coloration  when  it  reaches  the 
humid  extremity  of  the  Californian  peninsula.  Most  of 
the  North  American  mammals,  indeed,  acquire  similar 
pale  tints  as  they  reach  the  Arizona  desert-tract,  and  a 
practised  naturalist  can  pick  out  with  comparative  ease 
the  specimens  coming  from  this  area  from  those  of  the 
moister  districts. 


134  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

It  is  not  easy  to  obtain  information  as  to  the  physical 
features  of  the  Arizona  Desert  as  compared  with  the 
Sahara,  and  especially  as  to  the  amount  of  sand  it  contains 
area  for  area ;  but,  judging  from  the  comparatively  slight 
modifications  which  its  mammals  appear  to  have  under- 
gone as  compared  with  those  of  the  more  humid  regions 
adjacent,  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  these  deserts  are  of 
more  modern  origin  than  the  Sahara  and  the  Gobi. 

Whether  or  no  it  be  true  in  this  particular  case,  it  may 
be  laid  down  as  a  general  rule  that  the  greater  the  amount 
of  sand  to  be  found  in  a  desert,  and  the  greater  the 
difference  between  the  animals  inhabiting  that  desert  from 
those  dwelling  in  the  adjacent  districts,  the  greater  will  be 
the  antiquity  of  the  desert  itself.  In  the  case  of  a  desert 
forming  a  complete  barrier  across  a  continent,  like  the 
Sahara,  if  the  animals  on  one  side  are  quite  different  from 
those  on  the  other,  its  antiquity  will  be  conclusively 
demonstrated.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  more  alike, 
the  age  of  the  desert  will  be  proportionately  less. 


AFRICA   AND   ITS   ANIMALS 

IF  we  take  a  map  of  the  world,  and,  after  tracing  upon  a 
sheet  of  thin  paper  the  outline  of  the  British  Islands,  cut 
out  the  tracing  and  lay  it  upon  India,  we  shall  find  that  it 
covers  a  mere  patch  of  that  great  area.  Repeating  the  same 
process  with  India,  and  placing  the  tracing  thus  obtained 
on  Africa  in  such  a  manner  that  the  sharp  angle  on  the 
tracing  formed  by  Assam  overlies  the  projecting  point  of 
Somaliland,  which  it  almost  exactly  covers,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  whole  area  embraced  in  the  tracing  occupies  only 
a  small  patch  in  the  middle  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  Dark 
Continent.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  patch  thus  marked 
out  ends  in  a  blunt  point  northwardly  some  distance  above 
Khartum,  thence  it  runs  south  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Victoria  Nyanza,  from  which  district  it  rapidly  narrows  to 
terminate  in  a  sharp  point  a  little  distance  to  the  southward 
of  Zanzibar.  Allowing  some  slight  overlaps,  no  less  than 
six  Indias  can  indeed  be  traced  on  the  map  of  Africa ; 
and  as  these  leave  between  them  and  on  their  margins 
considerable  spaces  of  the  country  still  uncovered,  it  would 
be  but  a  moderate  estimate  to  say  that  Africa  includes  at 
least  seven  times  the  area  of  British  India.  Some  idea, 
especially  to  those  familiar  with  our  vast  Indian  dominions, 
may  in  this  manner  be  most  readily  gained  of  the  huge 
extent  of  the  African  continent. 

Having  made  these  comparisons  of  the  actual  size  of  the 

135 


136  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

three  areas  under  consideration,  I  must  ask  my  readers  to 
regard  them  for  a  moment  from  another  point  of  view. 
Every  one  familiar  with  the  birds  and  mammals  of  the 
British  Isles  is  aware  that,  even  excluding  Ireland,  the  same 
species  are  not  found  over  the  whole  area.  The  Scottish 
hare,  for  instance,  is  specifically  distinct  from  the  ordinary 
English  kind;  while  the  red  grouse  is  unknown  in  the 
southern  and  eastern  counties  of  England,  and  the  ptarmigan 
is  confined  to  the  colder  districts  of  Scotland.  These  are 
accordingly  indications  that  even  such  a  small  area  as 
the  British  Isles  contains  local  assemblages  of  animals,  or 
faunas,  differing  more  or  less  markedly  from  those  of 
other  districts. 

Turning  to  India,  we  find  such  local  faunas — as  might 
be  expected  from  its  larger  area — more  distinctly  defined, 
and  more  markedly  different  from  one  another.  One  great 
fauna  occupies  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalaya  from 
their  base  to  about  the  upper  limit  of  trees ;  this  fauna, 
which  includes  many  peculiar  types  unknown  elsewhere, 
being  designated  the  Himalayan.  The  second,  or  typical 
Indian  fauna,  occupies  the  whole  of  India,  from  the  foot  of 
the  Himalaya  to  Cape  Comorin,  exclusive  of  the  Malabar 
coast,  but  inclusive  of  the  north  of  Ceylon.  The  third, 
or  Malabar  fauna,  occupies  the  Malabar  coast  and  some  of 
the  neighbouring  hills,  together  with  the  south  of  Ceylon ; 
the  animals  of  these  districts  being  very  different  from 
those  of  the  rest  of  India.  The  fourth,  or  Burmese  fauna, 
embraces  only  the  province  of  Assam,  in  what  we  commonly 
term  India ;  and  many  of  its  animals,  again,  although  of  the 
general  Oriental  type,  are  very  different  from  those  of 
the  other  districts.  But  even  such  divisions  by  no  means 
give  the  full  extent  of  the  local  differences  between  the 
animals  of  the  whole  area.  In  the  second  or  typical  area, 


AFRICA   AND   ITS   ANIMALS  137 

for  example,  the  creatures  inhabiting  the  open  districts  of 
the  Punjab  and  the  North- West  Provinces  display  re- 
markable differences  from  those  dwelling  in  the  forests  of 
Southern  India  (the  home  of  the  strange  loris) ;  while  the 
dwellers  in  the  jungly  tract  of  the  south-western  districts 
of  Bengal  are  equally  distinct  from  those  of  either  of  the 
other  areas. 

Seeing,  then,  that  while  slight  differences  are  observable 
in  the  local  faunas  of  such  a  small  area  as  the  British 
Islands,  and  that  much  more  important  ones  characterise 
the  different  zoological  provinces  of  the  vastly  larger  extent 
of  country  forming  British  India,  it  is  but  natural  to  suppose 
that  distinctions  of  still  higher  value  would  be  characteristic 
of  different  parts  of  Africa,  accordingly  as  they  differ  from 
one  another  in  climate,  and  consequently  in  vegetable 
productions. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  such  differences  do  occur  to  a  most 
marked  degree;  but  when  the  vast  superiority  of  Africa 
over  India  is  taken  into  consideration,  the  marvel  is  that 
the  fauna  of  the  greater  part  of  that  area  is  not  more 
dissimilar  than  it  is,  and  that  it  has  been  found  possible 
to  include  the  more  typical  portion  of  the  continent  in  one 
great  zoological  region  or  province. 

But  the  reader  will  naturally  inquire  what  is  meant  by 
calling  one  portion  of  a  continent  more  typical  than  the 
rest.  As  has  been  pointed  out  in  the  last  article,  Northern 
Africa  has,  so  far  as  its  animals  are  concerned,  been  cut  off 
from  the  districts  lying  south  of  the  Tropic  of  Cancer  by 
the  great  barrier  formed  by  the  Sahara ;  and  as  the  animals 
of  the  districts  to  the  north  of  that  desert  are  for  the 
most  part  of  a  European  type,  while  Southern  Europe  and 
Northern  Africa  were  evidently  joined  by  land  at  no  very 
distant  epoch  of  the  earth's  history,  the  districts  north  of 


138  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  Sahara  are  for  zoological  purposes  regarded  as  part 
of  Europe  and  Asia.  Typical,  or  Ethiopian  Africa,  as  it  is 
more  generally  termed,  includes,  therefore,  only  such  portion 
of  the  continent  as  lies  to  the  south  of  the  northern  tropic. 

But  some  critical  reader  may  perhaps  be  led  to  remark 
that  some  at  least  of  the  animals  of  Northern  Africa 
are  common  to  the  south ;  the  lion,  whose  range  extends 
from  Algeria  to  the  Cape,  affording  a  case  in  point.  To 
this  it  may  be  replied  that,  popular  prejudice  notwith- 
standing, the  lion  cannot  in  any  sense  be  looked  upon  as 
a  characteristic  African  animal.  Although  year  by  year 
growing  rarer,  it  to  this  day  still  lingers  on  in  certain  parts 
of  Western  India,  while  it  is  likewise  found  in  Persia  and 
Mesopotamia,  and  within  the  historic  period  was  common  in 
South-Eastern  Europe.  At  a  still  earlier  epoch,  as  attested 
by  its  fossilised  remains,  it  was  an  inhabitant  of  our  own 
island.  It  may,  therefore,  to  a  certain  degree  be  regarded 
as  a  cosmopolitan  animal,  which  may  have  obtained  entrance 
into  Africa  by  more  than  one  route.  In  a  minor  degree 
the  same  may  be  said  of  the  hippopotamus,  which  was 
formerly  found  in  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Nile,  and  at 
a  much  earlier  epoch  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  inclusive 
of  Britain.  Being  an  aquatic  animal,  it  can  avail  itself  of 
routes  of  communication  which  are  closed  to  purely  terrestrial 
creatures. 

Of  the  fauna  of  typical  Africa,  as  a  whole,  some  of  the 
most  striking  features  are  of  a  negative  nature ;  that  is  to 
say,  certain  groups  which  are  widely  spread  in  most  other 
districts  of  the  Old  World  are  conspicuous  by  their  absence. 
This  deficiency  is  most  marked  in  the  case  of  bears  and 
deer,  neither  of  which  are  represented  throughout  the  whole 
of  this  vast  expanse  of  country.  Pigs  allied  to  the  wild 
swine  of  Europe  and  India  are  likewise  lacking,  their  place 


AFRICA   AND   ITS   ANIMALS  139 

being  taken  by  the  bush-pigs  and  the  hideous  wart-hogs, 
both  of  which  are  among  the  most  characteristic  of  African 
animals.  Except  for  a  couple  of  species  of  ibex  in  the  hills 
of  the  north-east,  sheep  and  goats  are  likewise  unknown 
in  a  wild  state.  Among  other  absentees  in  the  fauna, 
special  mention  may  be  made  of  marmots,  and  their  near 
allies  the  susliks,  as  well  as  of  voles,  beavers,  and  moles. 

Of  the  mammals  (and  space  permits  of  scarcely  any 
reference  to  other  groups)  which  may  be  regarded  as 
characteristic  of  typical  Africa  as  a  whole,  the  following,  in 
addition  to  the  bush-pigs  and  wart-hogs  already  mentioned, 
are  some  of  the  most  important.  Among  the  monkeys  the 
most  widely  distributed  are  the  hideous  baboons  (Papio\ 
now  restricted  to  Africa  and  Arabia,  the  southern  portion 
of  the  latter  country  being  included  in  the  same  great 
zoological  province.  The  guenons  (Cercopithecus),  species 
of  which  are  the  monkeys  commonly  led  about  by  organ- 
grinders,  have  also  a  wide  distribution  on  the  continent, 
although  of  course  more  abundant  in  the  forest  regions 
than  elsewhere  ;  and  the  guerezas  (Colobus),  one  of  which 
is  described  in  a  later  article,  have  also  a  considerable 
range.  In  a  totally  different  group,  the  curious  little 
jumping-shrews  (Macrosce tides)  form  a  peculiarly  charac- 
teristic family  of  African  mammals  belonging  to  the 
insectivorous  order.  There  are  also  many  peculiar  genera  of 
mongooses,  but  as  most  of  these  have  a  more  or  less  local 
distribution,  they  can  scarcely  be  considered  characteristic 
of  the  continent  as  a  whole  ;  still,  they  are  quite  different 
from  those  found  elsewhere.  A  very  curious  carnivorous 
mammal  known  as  the  aard-wolf  (Proteles),  strikingly  like 
a  small  striped  hyaena,  is  not  the  least  peculiar  among  the 
animals  of  Africa,  where  it  has  a  comparatively  wide  range. 
The  hunting-dog  (Lycaon\  which  presents  a  considerable 


140  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

resemblance  to  the  spotted  hyaena,  is  an  equally  remarkable 
representative  of  the  dog  family.  Although  formerly  found  in 
Europe,  the  spotted  hyaena  itself  is  now  exclusively  African. 

Passing  by  the  rodents,  or  gnawing  mammals,  as  being 
less  familiar  to  non-zoological  readers,  we  have  the  two 
species  of  hippopotamuses  absolutely  confined  to  Africa  at  the 
present  day;  we  are  all  familiar  with  the  common  species 
in  the  "Zoo"  but  the  small  West  African  kind,  which  has 
more  the  habits  of  a  pig,  is  much  less  commonly  known. 

The  stately  giraffes  are  solely  African,  but  are  mainly 
confined  to  more  or  less  open  districts;  while  their  ally 
the  okapi  is  a  forest  species.  The  herds  of  antelopes,  for 
the  most  part  belonging  to  generic  types  unknown  elsewhere, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  in  Arabia,  form  one  of  the  most 
distinctive  features  of  African  life.  Many  of  them,  like  the 
strange  gnus  and  the  graceful  gemsbok  group,  are  confined 
to  the  open  districts  of  the  south  and  east ;  but  others, 
such  as  the  bush-bucks  and  the  harnessed  antelopes,  have 
representatives  in  the  forest  districts  of  the  west.  Both 
species  of  African  rhinoceros  are  quite  different  from  their 
Oriental  relatives ;  but  only  one  of  these,  the  common 
species,  has  a  wide  distribution  in  the  country.  Zebras 
and  the  extinct  quagga  are  familiar  and  striking  African 
animals,  although  most  of  them  are  confined  to  the  open 
plains  and  mountains.  On  the  other  hand,  the  African 
elephant,  which  differs  so  widely  in  the  structure  of  its 
teeth  from  its  Asiatic  relative,  has  a  much  more  extensive 
distribution,  and  may  therefore  be  classed  among  the  most 
characteristic  of  Ethiopian  animals.  Even  more  peculiar 
are  the  little  dassies  (Procavia),  the  miscalled  coneys  of 
our  version  of  the  Bible,  which  form  a  family  absolutely 
peculiar  to  Africa,  Arabia,  and  Syria ;  some  of  the  species 
dwelling  among  rocks,  while  others  are  active  climbers,  and 


m 


From  a  photograph  by  Lord  Delainere.] 

AFRICAN  ELEPHANTS. 


[To  face  p.  140 


AFRICA   AND    ITS   ANIMALS  141 

frequent  the  forest  districts.  But  perhaps  the  strangest 
mammal  that  may  be  regarded  as  characteristic  of  Africa 
as  a  whole  is  the  aard-vark  (Orycteropus},  commonly  known 
to  the  colonists  as  the  ant-pig.  It  is  a  strangely  isolated 
creature,  having  at  the  present  day  no  near  relations, 
either  poor  or  otherwise. 

The  African  buffaloes,  with  their  several  races  or  species, 
also  belong  to  a  type  quite  peculiar  to  the  continent.  To 
a  great  extent  the  ostrich  is  characteristic  of  Africa  and 
Arabia,  although  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  it  formerly 
enjoyed  a  considerable  range  in  parts  of  Asia. 

The  above  are  only  a  few  of  the  more  striking  instances 
showing  how  different  are  the  animals  of  Africa  as  a  whole 
from  those  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  Many  others  might  be 
added,  but  they  would  only  weary  my  readers.  Of  course, 
there  are  many  groups,  like  the  cats,  common  to  other 
countries,  the  lion  and  the  leopard  being  found  alike  in 
Africa  and  India ;  but  such  do  not  detract  from  the  pecu- 
liarity of  the  African  fauna  as  a  whole.  And  here  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  types  now 
peculiar  to  the  Dark  Continent  once  had  a  much  wider 
geographical  range,  fossil  remains  of  baboons,  giraffes, 
hippopotamuses,  ostriches,  antelopes  of  an  African  type, 
and  not  improbably  zebras,  having  been  discovered  in  the 
Tertiary  deposits  of  India. 

But  if  the  animals  of  Africa  as  a  whole  stand  out  in 
marked  contrast  to  those  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  much 
more  is  this  the  case  when  those  characteristic  of  certain 
districts  of  that  huge  continent  are  alone  taken  into  con- 
sideration. And  most  especially  is  this  the  case  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  great  tropical  forest  districts  extending 
from  the  west  coast  far  into  the  interior  of  the  continent — 
reaching,  in  fact,  the  watershed  between  the  basins  of  the 


i42  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Congo  and  the  Nile  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wadelai.  As 
a  large  number  of  the  peculiar  animals  of  this  district  are 
more  or  less  exclusively  confined  to  the  west  coast,  extend- 
ing from  Sierra  Leone  to  the  Congo,  the  area  is  appropriately 
termed  the  West  African  sub-region.  It  is  here  alone  that 
we  find  the  gorilla  and  the  chimpanzee,  the  former  being 
restricted  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  coast,  whereas  the 
latter  ranges  far  into  the  heart  of  the  continent.  And  this 
district  is  likewise  the  exclusive  home  of  the  pretty  little 
mangabeys,  or  monkeys  with  white  eyelids  (Cercocebus). 
The  galagos,  which  are  near  relatives  of  some  of  the 
lemurs  of  Madagascar,  extend  throughout  the  forest  region ; 
but  the  even  more  curious  pottos,  or  thumbless  lemurs,  are 
confined  to  the  west  coast.  Huge  and  forbidding  fox-bats, 
some  of  them  with  remarkable  tufts  of  long  white  hairs  on 
the  shoulders,  are  likewise  restricted  to  this  portion  of  the 
tract,  as  is  the  insectivorous  otter,  or  Potamogale,  first 
discovered  during  the  travels  of  Du  Chaillu.  The  equatorial 
forest-tract  is  also  the  sole  habitat  of  the  African  flying- 
squirrels,  to  which  further  reference  is  made  in  the  sequel ; 
all  these  being  distinguished  from  the  flying-squirrels  of  Asia 
by  the  presence  of  a  number  of  scales  on  the  under-surface 
of  the  tail.  Most  of  them  belong  to  the  genus  Anoma/urus, 
but  the  smallest  of  all  forms  a  genus  (Idinrus)  by  itself, 
while  a  flightless  type  (Zenkerella]  also  belongs  to  the 
group.  Dormice  of  peculiar  types  and  tree-mice  are  also 
very  characteristic  of  this  tract.  But  far  more  generally 
interesting  are  the  pigmy  hippopotamus  of  Liberia  and  the 
water-chevrotain  (Dorcatheriuwi)  of  the  west  coast,  the  latter 
an  ally  of  the  chevrotains  of  India  and  the  Malay  countries. 
So  far,  indeed,  as  the  equatorial  forest  tract  fauna  has  any 
representative  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  it  is  to  the 
Malay  Peninsula  and  its  islands  that  the  resemblance  is 


AFRICA   AND   ITS   ANIMALS  143 

closest.  It  is  there  alone  that  the  other  large  manlike 
ape — the  orang — dwells  ;  and  there  is  a  group  of  brush- 
tailed  porcupines  common  to  these  two  districts,  and 
unknown  elsewhere  throughout  the  wide  world.  Both 
faunas,  however,  in  all  probability  trace  their  descent  from 
the  animals  inhabiting  Europe  during  the  Pliocene  and 
Miocene  epochs,  among  which  was  an  extinct  species  of 
water-chevrotain.  As  already  mentioned,  the  okapi  is 
restricted  to  the  forest  area,  as  is  the  beautiful  white-striped 
bongo  antelope,  and  its  much  smaller  relative  the  zebra- 
antelope. 

The  other  great  sub- regions  include  the  open  grazing 
grounds  and  mountains  of  South  and  East  Africa,  the  fauna 
of  which  is  quite  different  from  that  of  the  equatorial  forest- 
tract.  Minor  divisions  may  also  be  recognised  in  this  area, 
the  Cape  having  many  animals  not  found  farther  north. 
Among  the  latter  are  the  extinct  quagga,  the  pretty  little 
meerkat  (Suricata),  and  the  Cape  sand-mole  (Bathyergus), 
which,  by  the  way,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  true  moles, 
being  a  member  of  the  rodent  order.  The  tract  as  a  whole 
may  be  termed  the  east  central  sub-region ;  and  to  it  belong 
the  great  hosts  of  antelopes,  the  zebras,  and  the  aard-wolf 
and  hunting-dog.  Very  characteristic  of  the  southern  and 
eastern  parts  of  this  tract  are  the  beautiful  golden  moles 
(Chrysochloris),  unique  among  mammals  for  the  lovely  play 
of  iridescent  colours  on  the  fur,  and  which  have  nothing 
in  common  with  the  moles  of  Europe  and  Asia.  To 
the  northward,  in  Abyssinia,  this  tract  is  the  home  of 
another  very  remarkable  animal,  the  great  gelada  baboon 
(Theropithecus\  easily  recognised  by  the  lionlike  mantle  of 
long  hair  on  the  forequarters,  whose  nearest  relative  is 
the  Arabian  baboon. 

Whether  Somaliland  should  be  included  in  this  area,  or 


144  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

should  have  a  division  to  itself,  may  admit  of  argument ; 
but  at  any  rate  it  has  many  peculiar  animals,  among  which 
are  a  number  of  antelopes. 

Lastly  we  have  the  Saharan  sub-region,  which  contains  a 
comparatively  limited  fauna,  passing  by  almost  insensible 
degrees  into  that  of  Northern  Africa. 

In  some  respects,  especially  in  its  galagos,  the  fauna  of 
Africa  presents  a  certain  resemblance  to  that  of  Madagascar ; 
but  the  connection  between  that  island  and  the  mainland 
was  evidently  very  remote,  and  must  apparently  have 
taken  place  before  the  great  incursion  of  antelopes,  zebras, 
rhinoceroses,  monkeys,  elephants,  etc.,  from  the  north,  as 
none  of  these  are  found  in  the  island.  Madagascar,  there- 
fore, is  best  regarded  as  forming  a  zoological  province  by 
itself. 

Within  the  limits  of  a  single  article  it  is  manifestly 
impossible  to  give  anything  like  an  adequate  sketch  of  the 
fauna  of  such  an  extensive  area,  but  such  points  as  have 
been  noticed  serve  to  show  in  some  faint  degree  its  richness 
in  peculiar  forms  of  animal  life. 

It  may  be  added  that  North-Eastern  Africa  has  an  extinct 
mammalian  fauna  of  its  own,  which  seems  to  include  the 
ancestors  of  the  elephant  tribe. 


MONKEY    HANDPRINTS 

THE  arrangement  of  the  fine  ridges  and  grooves  on  the 
palmar  aspect  of  the  human  hand  has  of  late  years  been 
studied  with  great  attention — first  by  Sir  Francis  Galton, 
and  subsequently  by  Mr.  Henry,  now  Chief  Commissioner 
of  the  Metropolitan  Police — in  order  to  develop  a  satisfactory 
system  of  identification  by  means  of  "  finger-prints."  That 
exceedingly  important  and  interesting  subject  is  not  discussed 
in  the  present  article,  in  which  attention  is  restricted  to  the 
arrangement  of  these  lines  on  the  hands  of  monkeys,  and 
their  function  in  both  men  and  monkeys.  This  study 
seems  to  have  been  first  seriously  taken  up  by  Dr.  D. 
Hepburn,  of  Dublin,  who  communicated  to  the  Dublin 
Society  the  results  of  his  investigations,  which  were  duly 
published  in  the  Transactions  of  that  Society.  The  method 
employed  by  Dr.  Hepburn  was  to  take  impressions  of  the 
hands  of  living  monkeys  on  plates  of  glass  coated  with 
printers'  ink  ;  but  there  are  many  difficulties  connected  with 
this  operation,  and  in  preparing  a  series  of  impressions  for 
the  Natural  History  Museum,  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  might 
be  able  to  take  them  on  paper  from  the  hands  of  monkeys 
recently  deceased.  I  accordingly  communicated  with  the 
Prosector  to  the  Zoological  Society,  asking  him  to  be  good 
enough  to  send  me  the  right  hands  of  some  of  the  monkeys 
that  died  in  the  Society's  menagerie.  With  this  request  he 
very  kindly  complied,  and  from  the  specimens  which  from 

*45  10 


i46  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

time  to  time  arrived  at  the  Museum,  I  was  enabled  to 
take,  among  others,  the  impressions  herewith  reproduced. 
Although  they  are  not  quite  so  successful  as  might  be 
desired,  they  are  yet  amply  sufficient  to  show  the  general 
plan  of  arrangement  of  their  lines,  and  the  variation  to  which 
they  are  subject  in  different  genera.  Enlargements  from 
these  same  impressions  are  now  exhibited  in  the  British 
(Natural  History)  Museum. 

Before  proceeding  farther  I  must  disclaim  any  intention 
of  poaching  on  the  preserves  of  the  so-called  science  of 
"  palmistry."  This,  so  far  as  I  can  understand  its  methods, 
deals  exclusively  with  the  folds  or  creases  on  the  human 
palm  (corresponding  with  the  white  lines  in  the  annexed 
figures) ;  while  attention  is  here  concentrated  on  the  mode 
of  arrangement  of  the  raised  ridges  and  their  intervening 
grooves.  It  may,  however,  be  mentioned  that  the  creases 
in  question  have,  both  in  man  and  monkeys,  a  definite 
mode  of  arrangement,  which  appears  to  be  due  to  the 
position  and  action  of  the  palmar  muscles.  What  possible 
connection  there  can  be  between  such  muscular  creases  and 
the  duration  of  human  life  or  the  vicissitudes  of  our  mortal 
career  may  well  be  left  for  the  professors  of  palmistry  to 
explain  as  best  they  can. 

As  regards  the  structure  of  the  palmar  ridges,  an 
examination  of  the  reader's  own  hand  with  a  lens  will 
easily  show  that  these  consist  of  a  series  of  very  minute 
cone-like  elevations,  placed  close  together,  and  on  the 
summits  of  which  are  situated  the  apertures  of  the 
sudoriferous  or  sweat-glands.  If  a  section  of  the  skin 
be  examined  under  a  microscope,  it  will  also  be  evident 
that  within  these  papillae  are  certain  organs  of  touch 
know  as  the  tactile  bodies.  Between  the  papillary  ridges, 
as  we  may  term  them,  are  situated  the  equally  narrow 


B. 


MONKEY  HAND-PRINTS. 


A.— Right  Palmar  Imprint  of  a  Macaque  Monkey  (Macacus  cynomolgus} ;  a,  b,  c, 

interdigital  eminences ;  d,  radial  eminence  ;  e,  ulnar  eminence. 
B. — Right  Palmar  Impression  of  a  Spider  Monkey  (Ateles  ater}. 
C. — Right  Palmar  Imprint  of  a  Marmoset  (Hapale  jacchus). 
D. — Right  Palmar  Imprint  of  a  Red-fronted  Lemur  (Lemur  rufifrons.} 

{To  face  p.  146 


MONKEY   HAND-PRINTS  147 

grooves,    which    contain    neither    sweat-glands   nor   tactile 
bodies. 

Looking  carefully  at  fig.  A  in  the  plate,  and,  if  necessary, 
employing  a  lens,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  arrangement  of 
the  ridges  and  grooves,  instead  of  being  uniform  over 
the  entire  palm,  takes  the  shape  of  a  series  of  definite 
patterns  in  certain  areas,  between  which  a  more  or  less 
regular  linear  arrangement  obtains.  On  the  ball  of  each 
finger  and  the  thumb,  for  example,  it  will  be  noticed  that 
the  ridges  assume  what  may  be  termed  a  concentric  pattern, 
in  which  the  central  ridges  run  longitudinally.  Again,  on 
the  three  eminences  situated  on  the  palm  opposite  the 
clefts  between  the  four  fingers,  they  take  the  form  of 
concentric  whorls  (a,  b,  c).  A  similar  radial  eminence  (d) 
with  a  whorl-like  pattern  is  situated  opposite  the  cleft 
between  the  thumb  and  the  forefinger ;  while  yet  another 
whorl-bearing  elevation  (e)f  which  may  be  termed  the  ulnar 
eminence,  has  its  position  at  the  basal  angle  of  the  palm 
opposite  the  little  finger.  Minor  eminences,  with  much 
less  distinct  patterns,  also  occur  on  the  palmar  surfaces 
of  the  two  basal  joints  of  the  fingers.  Between  these 
various  pattern-bearing  eminences,  as  is  especially  well 
shown  on  the  fingers,  the  ridges  and  grooves  tend  to 
arrange  themselves  either  in  transverse  lines,  or  (in  the 
words  of  Dr.  Hepburn)  with  such  slight  modification  of 
this  direction  as  would  place  them  parallel  to  the  long 
axis  of  any  cylindrical  object  which  might  be  grasped  by 
the  foot.  It  may  be  added  that  although  in  the  human 
hand  the  patterns  found  on  the  balls  of  the  fingers  are 
frequently  more  complex  than  those  in  the  monkey's  hand, 
yet  the  converse  of  this  is  true  with  regard  to  the  eminences 
on  the  palm  itself,  the  ulnar  whorl  being  generally  quite 
obsolete  in  man. 


148  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

In  ordinary  five-fingered  monkeys,  whether  they  hail 
from  the  Old  World  or  from  the  New,  the  foregoing  type 
of  eminences  is  very  constant.  This  is  well  exemplified 
by  the  impression  of  the  hand  of  one  of  the  South  American 
capuchin  monkeys  (fig.  A).  Here,  however,  the  fingers 
are  much  longer  and  more  slender  than  in  the  Old  World 
macaque.  In  consequence  of  this  the  bulbs  of  the  fingers 
are  much  less  developed,  so  that  it  was  found  impossible 
to  get  a  good  impression  of  them.  These  features  are 
even  more  developed  in  the  hand  of  the  tiny  American 
marmosets  (fig.  D),  in  which  the  digits  are  more  like 
claws  than  fingers,  and  consequently  afford  only  a  narrow 
and  blurred  impression.  A  peculiarity  of  the  marmoset 
hand-print  is  to  be  found  in  the  circumstance  that  the 
radial  eminence  has  come  up  to  form  an  arch  with  the  three 
interdigital  elevations,  and  that  the  ulnar  elevation  and 
pattern  are  obsolete.  Seeing  how  comparatively  wide  apart 
from  one  another  (both  zoologically  and  geographically)  are 
the  ordinary  monkeys  of  the  Old  and  New  Worlds,  it  is 
not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  palm-print  of  the  macaque 
should  be  so  strikingly  like  that  of  the  capuchin. 

This  similarity  (since  everything  in  nature  has  a  use) 
suggests  that  the  patterns  on  the  hands  of  these  two 
monkeys  are  due  to  the  same  physiological  cause ;  and 
we  have  now  to  inquire  what  that  cause  is.  The  best 
clue  to  the  problem  seems  to  be  afforded,  somewhat 
strangely,  by  the  tails  of  such  of  the  South  American 
monkeys  as  are  endowed  with  prehensile  power  in  those 
appendages  ;  confirmatory  evidence  being  likewise  afforded 
by  the  prehensile  tails  of  the  American  opossums  and 
tree-porcupines,  as  well  as  by  those  of  the  Australian 
phalangers.  In  all  these  animals  the  naked,  grasping 
portion  of  the  tail,  which  is  situated  at  the  extremity,  is 


MONKEY   HAND-PRINTS  149 

covered  with  papillary  ridges  and  grooves  precisely  similar 
to  those  on  the  hands  and  feet  of  monkeys,  but  invariably 
arranged;  in  simple  transverse  lines  across  the  tail,  so  that 
in  the  act  of  grasping  they  would  be  parallel  to  the  long 
axis  of  the  branch  around  which  the  tail  was  coiled. 
Clearly,  then,  papillary  ridges  are  primarily  connected 
with  the  grasping  power,  and  when  they  are  intended 
solely  for  that  function,  they  are  so  arranged  as  to  be 
parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  object  grasped.  As  regards 
this  function  of  the  papillary  ridges,  Dr.  Hepburn  observes 
that  although  they  are  comparatively  low,  "  yet  they  must 
cause  a  certain  amount  of  friction,  and  thereby  prevent 
slipping,  while  the  naturally  moist  and  clammy  condition 
of  the  palm  and  sole  of  monkeys  must  be  of  material 
assistance  to  the  firmness  of  the  grasp.  A  man  instinctively 
moistens  the  palms  of  his  hands  when  he  wishes  to  make 
his  grasp  more  secure  ;  and  the  grasping  power  of  monkeys 
must  be  considerably  increased  by  the  application  of  the 
numerous  papillary  ridges  which  are  capable  of  intimate 
adaptation  to  the  surface  of  the  object  grasped." 

In  a  later  passage  the  same  observer  adds  that,  apart 
from  the  hook-like  manner  in  which  the  orang-utan  and 
the  American  spider-monkeys  employ  their  hands  in  trapeze- 
like  movements,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  palms  are 
capable  of  a  considerable  amount  of  lateral  folding,  as  is 
proved  by  the  creases  to  which  allusion  has  been  already 
made.  And  it  appears  probable  that  the  papillary  ridges 
are  designed  to  afford  increased  firmness  of  grasp  when 
the  palms  are  thus  folded.  Consequently,  simple  transverse 
ridges  on  the  palms,  except  in  the  second  joints  of  the 
fingers,  are  conspicuous  by  their  absence ;  and  we  find 
instead  the  complicated  patterns  on  the  eminences  already 
described. 


50  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

A  somewhat  different  type  of  arrangement  obtains  in 
the  hand  of  the  South  American  spider-monkeys  (fig.  B),  in 
which  the  thumb  is  wanting.  In  this  group,  although  whorl- 
like  patterns  are  observable  in  the  interdigital  eminences,  yet 
they  are  much  smaller  and  less  distinct  than  in  ordinary 
monkeys ;  the  same  being  the  case  with  the  ulnar  eminence. 
The  radial  pattern  at  the  inner  side  of  the  thumb  is, 
however,  practically  wanting,  owing  doubtless  to  the  absence 
of  that  digit.  It  will  further  be  noticed  from  an  examination 
of  the  figure  that  elsewhere  on  the  palm,  not  even  excepting 
the  fingers,  the  general  arrangement  of  the  ridges  is  longi- 
tudinal. Since  the  hands  of  the  spider-monkeys  are,  as 
already  mentioned,  largely  used  in  a  hook-like  manner 
during  the  arboreal  evolutions  of  these  active  creatures,  it 
would  seem  at  first  sight  that  the  arrangement  of  the  ridges 
precisely  controverts  what  has  been  said  above  as  to  their 
being  parallel  with  the  long  axis  of  the  object  grasped. 
But  the  palms  of  even  these  monkeys,  as  is  indicated  by 
the  numerous  creases,  are  evidently  much  folded  laterally; 
and  it  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  an  equally  important 
function  of  the  hand  is  the  plucking  and  holding  of  spherical 
or  sub-spherical  fruits.  And  for  such  a  combination  of 
functions  the  mode  of  arrangement  of  the  ridges  is  doubtless 
the  one  most  suitable.  If  the  ridges  were  transverse,  the 
fruit  would  very  probably  have  a  tendency  to  slip  out  of 
the  hand  on  one  side  or  the  other ;  but  this  is  clearly 
prevented  by  the  longitudinal  arrangement. 

The  above  are  the  chief  modifications  displayed  by  the 
palm-prints  of  monkeys  ;  and  it  may  be  added  that  a  very 
similar  general  plan  of  arrangement  of  the  papillary  ridges 
and  grooves  obtains  on  the  sole  of  the  foot  of  these  animals, 
subject,  however,  to  such  modification  as  is  necessary  for 
the  different  function  of  the  foot  as  compared  with  the 


MONKEY   HAND-PRINTS  151 

hand.  But  in  some  at  least  of  their  allies,  the  lemuroids, 
as  represented  by  the  true  lemurs  of  Madagascar,  the 
galagos  and  pottos  of  Africa,  and  the  lorises  and  tarsier  of 
Asia,  a  very  curious  departure  from  this  arrangement 
obtains.  In  regard  to  the  true  lemurs,  it  is  generally  stated 
that  on  the  outside  of  the  palm  of  the  hand  and  under  the 
base  of  the  fingers  are  situated  fleshy  pads,  giving  them 
greater  grasping  power.  This,  however,  is  scarcely  an 
adequate  statement  of  the  true  state  of  the  case.  Fig.  C 
shows  the  palm-impression  of  the  red-fronted  lemur,  a  well- 
known  Malagasy  species.  In  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
balls  of  the  digits  are  expanded  into  large  convex  circular 
pads  upon  which  are  a  number  of  papillary  ridges ;  but 
instead  of  these  ridges  covering  the  whole  surface  of  the 
pads,  they  are  interrupted  by  an  irregular  network  of 
relatively  large  canals,  producing  the  white  lines  in  the 
impression.  On  the  palm  of  the  hand  are  seen  the  three 
interdigital  eminences  of  the  monkey's  hand,  together  with 
a  large  radial  and  a  somewhat  smaller  ulnar  eminence. 
The  radial  eminence  is,  however,  divided  into  two  portions 
by  a  deep  groove,  and  on  all  five  eminences  are  observable 
the  usual  papillary  ridges  and  grooves  traversed  by  the 
aforesaid  irregular  network  of  grooves.  On  the  palmar 
aspect  of  the  second  joint  of  the  fingers,  and  on  such 
portion  of  the  centre  of  the  palm  as  exhibits  an  impression, 
the  papillary  ridges,  instead  of  being  uniformly  distributed 
in  regular  lines,  are  restricted  to  certain  small  pustule-like 
eminences,  on  which,  however,  the  linear  arrangement  is 
distinctly  visible  with  the  aid  of  a  lens.  And  if  it  had 
been  possible  to  obtain  an  impression  of  the  basal  joints 
of  the  fingers,  a  similar  pattern  would  doubtless  have 
been  noticeable  there  also.  Whether  the  curious  arrange- 
ment of  canals  characteristic  of  the  palm  of  the  red-fronted 


152  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

lemur,  or  a  modification  thereof,  obtains  in  all  the  true 
lemurs,  must  wait  the  acquisition  of  additional  fresh 
specimens  of  the  hand  ;  but  in  that  species  at  all  events 
it  seems  certain  that  these  pads  have  a  kind  of  sucker- 
like  action,  which  must  greatly  increase  the  firmness  of  their 
owner's  hold  on  the  boughs  it  grasps. 

Apparently  this  type  of  palm-structure  culminates  in  the 
curious  little  tarsier  of  the  Malay  Islands,  in  which  the  long 
and  slender  toes  terminate  in  round  sucker-like  discs ; 
similar  discs  occurring  on  the  toes  of  the  hind-foot. 
Unfortunately  I  have  had  no  opportunity  of  taking  the 
palm-impression  of  a  recently  deceased  tarsier,  and  it  will 
probably  be  long  before  such  a  chance  occurs,  so  that  I 
can  say  nothing  as  to  the  mode  of  arrangement  of  the 
papillary  ridges. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  finger-  and  toe-pads  of  those 
curious  lizards  commonly  known  as  geckos  are  likewise 
modified  into  adhesive  discs.  But  in  this  case  the  sucking 
action  is  caused  by  the  skin  being  raised  into  a  series  of 
parallel  plates,  and  as  palmar  eminences,  as  well  as  papillary 
ridges,  are  wanting,  the  structure  is  not  apparently  strictly 
comparable  with  what  obtains  in  the  tarsier  and  the  lemurs. 

But  even  the  foregoing  by  no  means  exhausts  the 
subject  of  palmar  and  plantar  eminences.  Any  one  of  my 
readers  who  takes  the  trouble  to  examine  the  feet  of  a 
cat,  a  dog,  or  a  rabbit  will  find  a  number  of  bare  elevated 
pads,  covered  with  rough  granular  skin,  interspersed 
among  the  generally  hairy  surface.  In  all  cases,  both  in 
the  fore  and  hind  limb,  one  of  these  bare  pads  will  be 
found  occupying  the  lower  surface  of  the  terminal  joint 
of  each  toe,  lying  immediately  below  the  claw.  And  it 
will  be  quite  obvious  that  these  correspond  to  the  pattern - 
bearing  eminences  occupying  the  balls  of  the  thumb  and 


MONKEY   HAND-PRINTS  153 

fingers  of  the  monkey.  In  regard  to  the  pads  on  the 
palm  and  sole,  these  are  subject  to  some  degree  of  variation 
in  the  carnivora,  and  they  may  sometimes  coalesce  to  such 
a  degree  that  their  original  relations  are  more  or  less 
obscured.  But  in  some  of  these  animals  *  three  distinct 
pads  are  observable  in  the  forefoot  corresponding  in  position 
with  the  interdigital  eminences  of  the  monkey's  palm. 
Continuing  the  semicircle  formed  by  these  three  is  a  fourth 
pad,  representing  the  radial  eminence  of  the  monkey,  while 
farther  down  on  the  palm  is  one  corresponding  to  the 
ulnar  eminence  of  the  latter  ;  a  small  additional  pad  being 
intercalated  between  the  radial  and  the  ulnar  pads. 

It  is  thus  fully  demonstrated  that  the  pads  on  the  fore- 
foot of  the  dog  and  the  cat  correspond  with  the  pattern- 
bearing  eminences  of  the  monkey's  palm,  and  these  again 
with  the  much  less  distinctly  defined  eminences  on  the 
human  hand.  In  animals  which  use  both  feet  exclusively 
for  walking,  it  will,  however,  be  obvious  that  delicate 
papillary  ridges,  designed  partly  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
a  firm  grip  on  any  object  seized,  and  partly  to  act  as 
organs  of  touch,  would  be  perfectly  useless.  And  we 
accordingly  find  the  papillary  ridges  of  man  and  monkeys 
replaced  in  the  cat,  the  dog,  and  the  rabbit  by  granular 
conical  elevations,  which  have,  however,  doubtless  the  same 
structure,  and  are  foreshadowed  by  the  pustules  on  the 
fingers  and  palms  of  the  lemurs. 

One  other  point  remains  to  be  mentioned.  In  all  the 
lower  monkeys  that  have  been  examined  both  by  Dr. 
Hepburn  and  myself  the  pattern  of  the  papillary  ridges 

*  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  may  turn  to  the  figure 
of  the  foot-pads  of  the  Linsang,  given  by  the  late  Prof.  Mivart 
on  p.  158  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  for  the 
year  1882. 


i54  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

is  of  the  concentric  type  (as  shown  in  fig.  A),  in  which 
the  central  ridges  are  longitudinal  and  the  external  ones 
form  broad  ellipses.  In  the  chimpanzee,  however,  and 
probably  also  in  some  or  all  of  the  other  manlike  apes,  the 
pattern  on  the  balls  of  the  fingers  is  of  the  form  known  as 
the  looped  type,  which  is  of  common  occurrence  in  the 
fingers  of  the  human  hand.  On  the  finger-tips  of  man 
alone  occurs  the  still  more  complicated  whorled  type ;  and  it 
is  thus  evident  that  even  in  such  a  minute  detail  as  the 
arrangement  of  the  lines  on  the  fingers  the  manlike  apes 
and  man  stand  apart  from  their  kindred,  and  that  in  man 
alone  is  the  most  complicated  type  ever  developed,  although 
even  in  him  it  is  comparatively  rare. 


LIVING  MILLSTONES 

THE  mill-like  action  of  their  own  upper  and  lower  molar- 
teeth  upon  one  another  may  have  been  quite  sufficient  to 
suggest  to  our  prehistoric  parents  the  idea  of  opposing  a 
pair  of  corrugated  stones  in  such  a  manner  that  by  mutual 
rotation  or  revolution  they  should  be  capable  of  reducing 
to  powder  hard  substances  placed  between  them.  Indeed, 
the  idea  of  millstones  is  such  a  simple  and  natural  one 
that  it  is  quite  probable  it  may  have  occurred  to  the  human 
mind  without  any  reference  to  any  prototype  in  nature  ;  and 
in  any  case,  if  such  a  natural  prototype  is  to  be  sought,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  go  farther  in  search  of  it  than  our  own 
dental  organs.  Excellent,  however,  for  their  special  purpose 
as  are  these  organs  (when  not  subject  to  premature  decay), 
there  are  other  types  of  tooth-structure  to  be  met  with  in 
the  animal  kingdom  which  present  a  much  closer  approxima- 
tion to  millstones,  and  might  well  have  foreshadowed  these 
instruments,  had  they  only  been  accessible  to  the  primeval 
savage.  But  since  these  natural  millstones  occur  only  in 
marine  fishes,  some  of  which  inhabit  distant  seas,  while 
others  are  met  with  only  as  fossils,  deeply  buried  in  the 
rocks,  it  is  evident  that  the  idea  of  artificial  millstones 
is  not  derived  from  these  natural  prototypes.  In  other 
words,  to  use  an  expression  now  fashionable  in  natural 
science,  the  development  of  artificial  and  natural  millstones 
is  a  case  of  parallelism. 


156  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  their  early  ancestors  were  provided 
with  a  good  working  set  of  sharply  pointed  dental  organs, 
birds  in  these  degenerate  days  manage  to  get  along  without 
teeth  at  all.  A  few  mammals,  too,  like  the  South  American 
ant-eaters,  are  in  the  same  condition  ;  and  some  people  have 
thought  that  in  a  few  more  generations  civilised  man  himself 
will  be  reduced  to  the  same  toothless  state.  The  great 
majority  of  mammals,  however,  possess  a  more  or  less 
efficient  set  of  teeth,  varying  in  shape,  size,  and  number 
according  to  the  need  of  each  particular  species  or  group. 
But  there  is  one  feature  common  to  these  organs  in  mammals 
of  all  descriptions ;  and  this  is  that  they  are  strictly  confined 
to  the  margins  of  the  jaws,  never  extending  either  on  to  the 
palate,  or  to  the  space  enclosed  between  the  two  branches 
of  the  lower  jaw.  In  many  reptiles,  such  as  crocodiles  and 
a  large  number  of  lizards,  the  same  law  of  dental  arrange- 
ment obtains.  In  some  lizards,  and  still  more  markedly  in 
certain  extinct  members  of  the  reptile  class,  we  find,  however, 
a  number  of  teeth  developed  on  the  palate,  having  flattened 
crowns,  and  thus  tending  to  make  the  mouth  act  the  part  of 
one  large  millstone.  But  we  must  descend  a  stage  farther 
in  the  scale  of  animated  nature  before  we  come  to  structures 
which  are  strictly  comparable  with  artificial  millstones  and 
crushing  cylinders.  And  it  is  in  the  class  of  fishes  that  we 
meet  with  these  organs  in  the  full  perfection  of  this  type  of 
development.  Not  that  they  occur  by  any  means  in  all  the 
groups  of  that  class ;  the  fact  being  that  at  the  present  day 
living  millstones  are  going  out  of  fashion,  the  great  pre- 
ponderance of  modern  fishes  having  their  dental  armature 
mainly  restricted  to  the  margin  of  the  jaws,  with  or  without 
a  minor  development  of  crushing  teeth  on  the  palate  or  the 
bones  of  the  gullet.  With  the  exception  of  a  comparatively 
limited  number  of  cases,  showing  a  different  type  of  develop- 


LIVING   MILLSTONES  157 

ment,  to  which  it  is  not  my  present  intention  to  allude,  these 
dental  millstones  are  confined  at  the  present  day  to  those 
hideous  marine  fishes  commonly  known  as  skates  and  rays, 
and  to  the  singular  Port  Jackson  shark  and  a  few  allied 
species  inhabiting  the  Pacific  and  Malayan  seas.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  seas  of  the  Cretaceous,  Jurassic,  and  ante- 
cedent epochs  absolutely  swarmed  with  numerous  kinds  of 
sharks  more  or  less  nearly  related  to  the  Port  Jackson 
species,  whose  mouths  were  filled  with  pavements  of  teeth 
showing  marvellous  variety  of  structure  and  beauty  of 
ornamentation.  The  skates  and  rays,  too,  displayed  types 
of  dental  millstones  quite  unlike  any  of  those  of  the  present 
day.  And  in  addition  to  these,  there  were  hosts  of  enamel- 
scaled  fishes  whose  mouths  were  likewise  crammed  with 
beautiful  crushing  teeth,  albeit  of  a  totally  different  type 
of  structure  to  that  obtaining  in  either  the  sharks  or  the 
rays.  Although  well-nigh  extinct,  these  enamel-scaled 
fishes  are  still  represented  by  the  bony  pike  of  the  rivers 
of  North  America  and  the  bichir  (remarkable  for  its  fringed 
fins  and  the  row  of  finlets  down  its  back)  of  tropical 
Africa.  But  it  is  noteworthy  that  in  neither  of  these  sur- 
vivors of  an  ancient  group  do  we  find  the  mouth  furnished 
with  an  apparatus  of  millstones ;  while,  as  already  said, 
among  the  host  of  sharks  that  infest  the  warmer  seas  of 
the  globe  it  is  only  in  the  Port  Jackson  species  and  its  three 
kindred  that  we  find  similar  structures  retained  ;  all  the 
other  members  of  the  group  having  developed  cuspidate 
teeth  adapted  for  seizing  and  tearing  soft-fleshed  prey, 
instead  of  for  grinding-up  mail-clad  food. 

Clearly,  then,  there  has  been  some  general  cause  at  work 
which  has  rendered  crushing  teeth,  so  to  speak,  unfashion- 
able among  the  fishes  of  the  present  day  and  the  imme- 
diately antecedent  epochs.  And  in  this  connection  it  is 


158  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

important  to  notice  that  there  has  been  an  even  more 
strongly  marked  tendency  to  the  extinction  of  the  enamel- 
scaled  fishes,  and  their  replacement  by  the  ordinary  soft- 
scaled  fishes  so  abundant  in  the  present  seas.  As  the 
majority  of  these  old  mail-clad  fishes,  as  well  as  a  large 
proportion  of  the  ancient  sharks,  were  provided  with 
crushing  teeth,  it  is  a  fair  inference  that  their  food  con- 
sisted largely  of  shell-fish  and  crustaceans,  with  a  certain 
proportion  of  their  own  mail-clad  relatives.  When,  how- 
ever, the  swift-swimming,  soft-scaled  fishes  came  to  the 
fore,  they  would  naturally  offer  a  more  tempting  and 
nourishing  diet  to  such  sharks  and  other  predaceous 
members  of  their  own  class  as  were  swift  enough  in  their 
movements  to  make  them  their  prey.  And  consequently 
the  old  millstone-jawed  sharks  would  tend  more  or  less 
completely  to  disappear.  On  the  other  hand,  the  skates  and 
rays,  which  are  for  the  most  part  slow-moving  creatures, 
flapping  sluggishly  along  on  the  sea-bottom  by  means  of 
their  fan-like  fins,  would  be  quite  unable  to  capture  the 
modern  type  of  swift-swimming  fish.  And  they  have  thus 
had  to  content  themselves  with  the  old-fashioned  diet  of 
shell-fish  and  crabs,  in  consequence  of  which  a  large  pro- 
portion of  them  have  retained  the  dental  millstones  which 
have  been  so  steadily  going  out  of  fashion  among  their 
more  advanced  relatives.  Not  that  these  rays  and  skates 
have  by  any  means  been  content  with  the  kind  of  molar 
machinery  that  did  duty  for  their  forefathers,  since  some 
of  them,  together  with  their  Tertiary  ancestors,  have  de- 
veloped what  appears  to  be  an  absolutely  perfect  type  of 
living  mill,  far  superior  to  that  which  served  the  purpose 
of  their  predecessors.  And  it  must  always  be  remembered 
that  these  beautiful  living  millstones  and  cylinders  (which 
are  some  of  the  most  exquisite  bony  structures  to  be  met 


LIVING   MILLSTONES  159 

with  in  the  whole  animal  kingdom)  excel  their  artificial 
substitutes  in  that  they  never  wear  out;  being  renewed 
either  by  tjie  development  of  new  teeth  on  the  inner  or 
hinder  aspect  of  the  cylinder,  or  by  vertical  successors 
replacing  the  individual  teeth  from  below  or  above. 

And  now  that  the  dental  millstones  of  the  rays  have  been 
mentioned,  it  will  afford  a  convenient  starting-point  for  a 
brief  survey  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable  types  of 
structure  presented  by  these  curious  organs. 

The  teeth  of  rays  always  form  a  pavement-like  structure, 
of  which  the  component  elements  are  arranged  in  straight 
longitudinal  rows,  although  they  sometimes  likewise  show 
a  quincunxial  mode  of  arrangement.  The  individual  teeth 
are  not  replaced  by  vertical  successors ;  but,  being  in  the 
form  of  a  half-cylinder,  as  those  in  front  become  worn 
down,  the  whole  series  is  pushed  forwards,  and  new  teeth 
are  developed  on  the  hinder  margin  of  the  cylinder.  The 
supreme  development  of  a  dental  structure  adapted  for 
crushing  in  this  group  occurs  in  the  family  of  the  eagle- 
rays  (Myliobatidae))  in  which  the  millstone  of  each  jaw 
forms  a  perfect  semi-cylinder  or  plate,  made  up  of  flat- 
crowned  prismatic  teeth  united  at  their  edges,  often  so  as 
to  constitute  a  mosaic-like  pavement.  No  piece  of  modern 
machinery  can  be  better  adapted  for  crushing  hard  sub- 
stances than  are  these  beautiful  ivory  cylinders  and 
plates,  the  crushing  power  of  which,  when  worked  by  the 
strong  jaws,  must  be  enormous,  and  sufficient  to  grind 
the  strongest  shell  that  can  be  introduced  between  them 
to  powder.  Although  in  all  cases  pavement-like,  the 
millstone  differs  considerably  in  the  different  species  in  its 
structure. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  group,  we  may  take  one  of  the 
millstones  of  the  beaked  eagle-rays  (Rhinopterd).  Here  the 


160  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

millstone  is  in  the  form  of  a  semi-cylinder,  consisting  of  five 
or  more  rows  of  teeth  ;  a  very  usual  number  being  seven. 
Generally  the  teeth  of  the  middle  row  are  the  widest ;  those 
of  the  rows  on  either  side  being  considerably  narrower, 
while  the  two  or  three  marginal  rows  on  each  side  may  be 
compared  to  the  tesserae  in  a  mosaic  pavement.  A  further 
development  of  the  same  type  is  exemplified  by  the  typical 
eagle-rays  (Myliobatis),  in  which  the  middle  row  of  teeth 
in  the  millstone  becomes  still  wider,  while  the  three  lateral 
rows  on  each  side  are  reduced  to  the  condition  of  hexagonal 
tesserae.  Moreover,  whereas  in  the  species  of  Rhinobatis 
both  millstones  are  in  the  form  of  half-cylinders,  in 
Myliobatis  the  upper  one  alone  retains  this  form,  the  lower 
being  a  flattened  plate.  The  culmination  of  this  type  of 
sculpture  is  displayed  in  the  rays  belonging  to  the  allied 
genus  Aetobatis,  in  which  both  upper  and  lower  millstones 
are  flat  and  composed  only  of  the  middle  row  of  teeth, 
which  are  of  great  width;  the  lateral  rows  having  com- 
pletely disappeared.  The  existing  representative  of  this 
genus  is  not  very  large  (for  a  ray),  seldom,  if  ever,  measuring 
more  than  about  five  feet  across  ;  but  some  of  its  extinct 
predecessors  must  have  been  monstrous  fish,  as  the  teeth 
measure  some  five  or  six  inches  in  diameter. 

Quite  a  different  type  of  dental  armature  is  presented 
by  the  millstones  of  the  beaked  rays  (Rhinobatidae). 
Here  the  teeth  take  the  form  of  closely  packed  diamond- 
shaped  knobs,  arranged  in  an  alternating  manner,  so  that 
although  they  present  longitudinal  rows,  yet  they  also 
show  oblique  series,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  a  quincunxial 
pattern.  Then,  again,  the  entire  millstone  in  each  jaw  is 
thrown  into  a  series  of  undulations,  so  that  the  upper 
one  exhibits  a  large  median  boss,  flanked  by  a  pair  of 
smaller  undulations,  which  are  received  into  corresponding 


LIVING  MILLSTONES  161 

depressions  in  the  lower  millstone.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  a  machine  better  adapted  for  crushing  than  is 
presented  by  the  jaws  of  the  beaked  rays. 

Of  a  much  less  powerful  type  are  the  millstones  of  the 
ordinary  rays  or  skates  (Raiidae)  of  our  own  coasts ;  and 
among  these  the  common  thornback  (Raia  clavatd]  presents 
a  very  remarkable  condition,  since  the  individual  teeth  take 
the  form  of  obtuse  knobs  in  the  female,  whereas  in  the 
male  the  centre  of  each  of  these  knobs  acquires  a  sharp 
recurved  point.  Since  everything  in  nature  has  a  meaning, 
it  would  seem  a  fair  inference  that  there  must  be  some 
important  difference  between  the  food  of  the  male  and 
female  thornback,  but  I  have  not  come  across  any  obser- 
vations bearing  upon  the  subject. 

Among  the  fossils  to  be  obtained  occasionally  from  the 
workmen  in  large  chalk-pits  are  teeth  in  the  form  of  convex 
quadrangular  bosses,  the  marginal  portion  of  which  consists 
of  a  broad  granular  area,  while  the  centre  is  occupied  by  a 
variable  number  of  bold  ridges,  or  folds,  between  which  are 
often  irregular  knobs.  It  is  from  these  ridges  that  the  fish 
takes  the  name  of  Ptychodus.  For  a  long  time  it  was  un- 
certain how  these  teeth  were  arranged,  but  careful  comparison 
of  a  number  of  more  or  less  incomplete  series  in  situ  has  at 
length  solved  the  problem.  In  the  lower  jaw  the  complete 
millstone  was  formed  by  a  median  row  of  large  teeth, 
on  each  side  of  which  were  six  or  seven  other  rows 
composed  of  teeth  gradually  decreasing  in  size  from  the 
centre  to  the  margin.  In  the  upper  jaw,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  a  central  row  of  small  teeth,  flanked 
on  each  side  by  a  row  of  large  ones,  externally  to  which 
came  a  series  of  rows  gradually  diminishing  in  size.  From 
this  mode  of  arrangement  it  is  inferred  that  Ptychodus  was 
a  ray;  and  the  whole  dental  structure  is  as  remarkable 

ii 


i62  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

for  its   perfection   as   a   crushing   machine  as   it   is  for  its 
intrinsic  beauty. 

Even  more  elegant  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view  are 
the  "  millstones "  of  the  Port  Jackson  shark  (Cestracion) 
and  its  allies.  In  place  of  forming  a  continuous  plate 
across  the  palate  after  the  fashion  of  the  eagle-rays,  the 
individual  teeth  in  this  group  are  arranged  in  oblique 
bands  round  the  edges  and  inner  sides  of  the  jaws,*  showing 
in  the  hinder  region  a  melon-shaped  swelling  of  remarkable 
gracefulness,  which  would  form  an  attractive  ornament  for 
the  capital  of  a  pillar.  In  this  melon-like  portion  of  the 
millstone  the  individual  teeth  form  bluntly  convex  oblongs ; 
those  of  one  row  being  remarkably  larger  than  all  the  rest, 
while  the  rows  in  front  and  behind  this  do  not  correspond 
with  one  another  in  size.  Examined  with  a  lens,  each  of 
these  blunt  teeth  is  seen  to  have  a  minutely  pitted  structure, 
while  its  median  longitudinal  line  is  marked  by  a  narrow 
smooth  streak.  New  teeth  are  being  continuously  produced 
on  the  margin  of  the  series  on  the  inner  side  of  the  jaw ; 
and  as  the  outer  ones  become  worn  away,  the  whole  series 
is  pushed  over  towards  the  edge  of  the  jaw.  Proceeding 
from  the  larger  rows  of  teeth  towards  the  front  of  the  jaw, 
it  will  be  seen  that  as  the  individual  teeth  become  gradually 
shorter  their  smooth  median  line  gains  prominence,  till  it 
finally  develops  into  the  sharply  pointed  cusp  surmounting 
each  of  the  front  teeth. 

As  already  said,  the  Port  Jackson  shark  and  a  few  other 
nearly  related  species  (all  of  which,  by  the  way,  feed  on 
shell-fish  and  crustaceans)  are  the  only  sharks  with  mill- 
stones met  with  in  our  present  seas.  And  it  is  fortunate 
that  these  have  lived  on,  as  otherwise  we  should  never 

*  Strictly  speaking,  the  tooth-bearing  cartilages  of  sharks  are  not 
true  jaws. 


LIVING  MILLSTONES  163 

have  gained  a  true  idea  of  the  dental  armature  of  their 
extinct  relatives  which  abounded  in  the  seas  of  the  Jurassic 
epoch.  •;  Visitors  to  Whitby  must  be  familiar  with  certain 
black  oblong  fossils  of  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length 
known  to  the  quarrymen  as  "  fossil  leeches."  These  are 
the  hinder  teeth  of  an  extinct  shark  (Asteracanthus)  nearly 
allied  to  the  Port  Jackson  species,  but  of  much  larger  size ; 
and  although  they  are  more  rugose  than  pitted,  they  show 
the  same  smooth  line  on  the  summit.  A  beautiful  specimen 
from  Caen,  in  the  British  Museum,  shows  that  the  arrange- 
ment of  these  hinder  teeth  was  almost  exactly  the  same 
as  in  Cestracion,  which  may  thus  be  regarded  as  a  survivor 
from  a  long-past  epoch  of  the  earth's  history. 

But  there  were  other  "  millstone-mouthed "  sharks  at  a 
still  earlier  period  which  appear  to  have  been  allied  to 
Cestracion,  although  the  degree  of  relationship  is  uncertain. 
In  these  Palaeozoic  sharks,  as  exemplified  by  Cochliodus, 
the  series  of  hinder  teeth  seems  to  have  had  an  arrangement 
very  similar  to  that  obtaining  in  Cestracion,  but  the  indi- 
vidual teeth  of  several  series  were  more  or  less  completely 
fused  into  a  single  solid  plate,  the  ridges  on  which  mark 
the  original  lines  of  division  between  the  component  series. 
These  sharks  exhibit,  therefore,  one  among  many  instances 
where  the  earlier  forms  of  a  group  are  in  some  respects 
more  specialised  than  their  descendants. 

So  much  space  has  been  taken  up  by  the  rays  and  sharks 
that  only  a  few  lines  remain  for  the  millstones  of  the  enamel- 
scaled  fishes.  In  none  of  these  do  the  teeth,  which  are 
developed  on  most  of  the  bones  of  both  the  upper  and  lower 
jaws,  ever  form  continuous  plates ;  and  they  are  generally 
either  spherical  or  kidney-bean-shaped  and  arranged  in  more 
or  less  longitudinal  rows.  Unlike  those  of  the  sharks  and 
rays,  these  teeth,  as  in  the  familiar  Lepidotus  of  the  Wealden, 


164  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

are  replaced  by  vertical  successors;  and  their  mode  of 
development  is  so  peculiar  that  in  some  cases  the  new  tooth 
is  placed  wrong  way  up  beneath  the  one  it  is  destined 
to  replace.  In  other  instances,  as  in  Coelodus  from  the 
Folkestone  Gault,  successional  teeth  have  not  been  ob- 
served, and  the  mode  of  renewal  is  consequently  still 
unknown.  Although  within  the  limits  of  a  single  article 
it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  give  the  crudest  sketch 
of  a  vast  subject,  yet  what  has  been  written  may  be  sufficient 
to  attract  my  readers'  interest  to  an  extremely  fascinating 
branch  of  zoological  study. 


PART    II 


AN   INVISIBLE   MONKEY 

IN  most  English  dictionaries  i he  verb  "  to  mimic  "  has  for 
its  synonyms  "  to  ape,  imitate,  counterfeit,  or  mock  " ;  and 
it  is  thus  intimately  connected  with  the  monkey  tribe,  whose 
imitations  of  human  gestures  and  actions  form  one  of  their 
most  prominent  characteristic  features.  Till  a  few  years 
ago  naturalists  were,  however,  totally  unacquainted  with 
any  instance  among  these  animals  of  "  mimicry "  in  its 
scientific  sense — that  is  to  say,  no  case  was  known  where 
a  monkey,  for  the  sake  of  protection,  resembled  in  form 
or  coloration  either  some  other  animal  or  an  inanimate 
object.  During  a  journey  to  Mount  Kenya  and  Lake 
Barengo,  in  East  Africa,  Dr.  J.  W.  Gregory,  late  of  the 
Natural  History  Museum,  discovered  that  the  peculiar  type 
of  coloration  characterising  certain  African  monkeys  is 
protective  in  its  nature,  and  that  these  monkeys,  when 
in  their  native  haunts,  are  thereby  rendered  practically 
invisible. 

The  monkeys  in  question  (one  of  which  is  represented 
in  the  annexed  plate)  are  known  to  the  natives  of  certain 
districts  of  East  Africa  by  the  name  of  "guereza."  They 
belong  to  the  group  of  thumbless  apes  (Colobus),  which 
are  restricted  to  the  African  continent,  where  they  take  the 
place  of  the  langurs,  or  sacred  apes,  of  India  and  other 
Oriental  countries.  From  the  other  thumbless  apes  the 
guerezas  (or  those  species  to  which  that  name  properly 

167 


i68  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

applies)  are  distinguished  by  their  long  silky  black  and 
white  coats,  which  are  much  sought  after  by  the  natives 
of  Africa  as  articles  of  costume  and  for  purposes  of  deco- 
ration. In  the  typical  Abyssinian  guereza,  the  greater  part 
of  the  fur  of  the  body  and  limbs  is  of  a  deep  shining 
black,  but  from  the  shoulders  there  depends  a  mantle  of 
long  white  silky  hairs  extending  down  each  side  and 
meeting  on  the  lower  part  of  the  back,  so  as  to  hang  down 
over  the  sides  of  the  body  as  well  as  over  the  hips  and 
thighs.  The  terminal  third  of  the  tail  is  also  clothed  with 
long  white  hairs.  Strikingly  handsome  as  is  this  species, 
it  is  excelled  in  this  respect  by  the  East  African  guereza, 
in  which  the  base  of  the  tail  is  alone  black,  the  whole  of 
the  remainder  of  that  appendage  being  developed  into  a 
magnificent  white  brush,  which  may  be  compared  to  an 
Indian  chowri,  or  fly-whisk. 

Black  and  white  is  a  type  of  coloration  so  conspicuous, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  so  rare  among  the  larger  mammals, 
that  whenever  it  occurs  we  may  be  quite  sure  it  is  developed 
for  some  special  purpose,  although,  unless  we  have  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  animals  in  their  native  haunts, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  divine  what  that  purpose  may 
be.  It  is  met  with  elsewhere  in  the  zebras,  and  also  in 
the  great  panda  (Aeluropus)  of  Tibet.  Although  the  former 
animals  are  conspicuous  enough  in  a  stall  at  the  "Zoo," 
or  when  stuffed  in  a  museum,  travellers  tell  us  that  when 
seen  in  the  haze  of  an  African  desert  their  black  and 
white  stripes  fade  at  a  very  short  distance  to  an  almost 
invisible  grey.  This  may  even  be  observed  in  a  hot 
summer,  when  the  grass  is  burnt  brown,  in  the  Duke  of 
Bedford's  seat  at  Woburn  Abbey,  where  several  of  these 
beautiful  animals  roam  at  will  in  the  park  during  the 
summer  months. 


AN   INVISIBLE   MONKEY  169 

With  regard  to  the  great  panda,  we  have  at  present  no 
information.  It  may  be  suggested,  however,  that  the  start- 
ling contrast  presented  by  its  streaks  and  patches  of  creamy 
white  on  a  jet-black  ground  may  harmonise  with  patches 
of  snow  on  black  rocks,  or  possibly  with  the  lines  of  light 
between  the  dark  stems  of  forest  trees. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Dr.  Gregory's  observations  have  solved 
the  problem  of  the  use  of  the  remarkable  coloration  of 
the  guerezas,  which  has  so  long  puzzled  naturalists.  Like 
others  of  their  kind,  these  monkeys  pass  most  of  their 
time  high  up  on  trees,  where  they  sleep  either  resting  on 
a  bough  or  hanging  beneath  by  their  hands,  or  hands  and 
feet.  Now,  in  the  dense  forests  clothing  Mount  Kilima 
Njaro  and  other  districts  of  East  Africa,  the  black-barked 
boughs  are  thickly  draped  with  pendent  masses  and  wreaths 
of  grey  beard-moss  or  lichen,  which  reach  for  several  feet 
below  them.  "As  the  monkeys  hang  from  the  branches," 
writes  Dr.  Gregory,  "  they  so  closely  resemble  the  lichen 
that  I  found  it  impossible  to  recognise  them  when  but  a 
short  distance  away." 

We  have  thus  decisive  evidence  that  the  black  and 
white  coloration  of  the  guerezas  protects  these  animals 
by  a  close  resemblance  to  their  inanimate  surroundings. 
There  are,  however,  certain  smaller  mammals  with  a 
similar  type  of  coloration  in  which  the  startling  contrast 
of  black  and  white  seems  to  be  for  the  purpose  of  rendering 
them  conspicuous  ;  and  as  some  at  least  of  these  creatures 
are  endowed  with  a  most  disgusting  odour,  their  con- 
spicuousness  has  been  regarded  as  warning  other  animals 
from  attacking  them.  The  best  known  of  these  creatures 
are  the  ill-famed  American  skunks,  which  are  in  the  habit 
of  stalking  over  the  Argentine  Pampas  in  full  daylight, 
with  the  most  consummate  indifference  to  the  presence  of 


170  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

other  and  more  powerful  animals.  And  any  one  who  is  in 
doubt  as  to  the  cause  of  this  proud  indifference  should 
read  Mr.  W.  H.  Hudson's  account  of  the  terrible  and 
lasting  effects  of  their  foetid  excretion,  as  detailed  in  "The 
Naturalist  in  La  Plata."  Less  familiar  is  the  so-called 
Cape  polecat  (Ictonyx),  an  animal  of  about  the  same  size 
as  an  ordinary  polecat,  but  having  its  fur  marked  with 
broad  longitudinal  bands  of  blackish  brown  alternating 
with  white.  As  this  creature  is  stated  to  have  an  odour 
as  disgusting  as  that  of  a  skunk,  there  can  be  little 
hesitation  in  classing  it  among  animals  possessing  "  warning 
odours." 

Another  member  of  the  same  family  (Poecilogale  albinucha) 
from  South  Africa  is  likewise  conspicuously  banded  with 
blackish  brown  and  white,  and  thus  closely  resembles  the 
Cape  polecat,  for  which  it  might  readily  be  mistaken. 
Unfortunately,  its  habits  seem  very  imperfectly  known,  and 
it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  whether  it  has  an  odour  as 
powerful  as  that  of  its  larger  cousin.  It  is  very  probable 
however,  it  has  not,  and  that  its  coloration  is  a  true 
mimicry  of  that  of  the  latter.  If  this  be  so,  we  shall 
have  the  pied  coloration  of  the  animals  above  mentioned 
attributable  to  three  distinct  causes.  In  the  case  of  the 
guereza  it  affords  protection,  from  its  resemblance  to  in- 
animate surroundings;  in  the  skunk  and  Cape  polecat  it 
serves  to  warn  other  animals  from  attacking  a  noisome 
beast,  which  is  thereby  protected ;  while  the  South  African 
weasel  enjoys  immunity  from  attack  from  being  mistaken 
for  the  similarly  coloured  polecat. 


SOME    QUEER-NOSED    MONKEYS 

OF  all  the  features  of  the  human  countenance  none  seems 
more  prone  to  exhibit  marked  variations  in  size  and  shape 
than  the  nose.  A  broad  and  flattened  nose,  is,  for  instance, 
characteristic  of  negroes  and  Australian  natives,  whereas 
the  classic  or  Grecian  nose  is  found  only  among  the  highest 
types  of  the  Caucasian  races  of  Europe.  But  while  the 
nasal  organs  of  the  lower  races  of  mankind  differ  in  general 
from  those  of  the  higher  peoples  of  Western  Europe,  yet 
it  is  among  the  latter  that  perhaps  the  greatest  amount 
of  variation  in  this  respect  may  be  noticed.  And  although 
even  among  these  mixed  Western  nations  a  considerable 
amount  of  such  nasal  variability  is  evidently  hereditary 
and  distinctive  of  particular  families  or  races,  yet  there 
are  many  instances  in  which  it  appears  largely  individual, 
although  it  may,  of  course,  be  due  to  reversion.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  it  will  suffice  for  our  present  purpose  to  note 
that  among  European  races  a  distinctly  "  snub-nosed,"  or 
"  tip-tilted,"  type  is  not  uncommon  on  the  one  extreme, 
while  at  the  other  we  have  what  is  commonly  called  the 
"  long-nosed "  type ;  the  latter  being  broadly  distinguished 
from  the  arched  Roman,  or  aquiline,  nose. 

Now,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  natural  history  that 
whereas  the  great  majority  of  the  monkeys  and  apes  of 
the  Old  World  have  noses  of  an  ordinary  pattern — that  is 
to  say,  not  very  far  removed  from  the  type  characterising 

171 


172  MOSTLY    MAMMALS 

the  inferior  representatives  of  the  human  race — three  of 
them  have  developed  peculiarities  in  this  respect  which 
entitle  them  to  be  regarded  as  among  the  most  extraordinary 
of  all  four-footed  beasts.  And  not  the  least  remarkable 
circumstance  in  connection  with  these  nasal  eccentricities 
is  that  the  two  extremes  are  found  in  members  of  a 
single  group  inhabiting  widely  distant  and  completely 
isolated  areas. 

Before  referring  to  the  species  displaying  these  remark- 
able peculiarities,  it  will  be  well  to  briefly  refer  to  their 
nearest  relatives.  These  are  most  familiarly  known  by 
the  sacred  Hanuman  monkey,  or  langur,  of  India,  which 
is  one  of  a  large  group  of  species  inhabiting  most  of  the 
Oriental  countries ;  one  kind,  the  Himalayan  langur,  being 
found  at  a  considerable  elevation  in  the  outer  hills  of  the 
mighty  range  from  which  it  takes  its  name.  And  in  winter, 
or  early  spring,  these  large  grey  monkeys  may  frequently 
be  seen  disporting  themselves  among  pines  heavily  laden 
with  snow.  As  distinctive  features  of  the  langurs,  reference 
may  be  made  to  their  slim  build,  long  hind-legs  and  tail, 
and  the  absence  of  pouches  in  the  cheeks  for  the  storage 
of  food.  Their  hair  is  long  and  coarse,  and  may  be  of 
any  colour  from  slaty  grey  to  bright  foxy  red  or  black. 
All  have,  for  monkeys,  fairly  well-formed  noses,  of  ordinary 
dimensions.  Unlike  the  majority  of  the  members  of  their 
order,  they  feed  on  leaves  in  preference  to  fruits ;  and,  as 
showing  how  similarity  of  habit  gives  rise  to  similarity  of 
structure  (or,  if  the  reader  so  please,  vice  versa),  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  langurs  have  complex  stomachs, 
strikingly  similar  to  those  of  sheep  and  ruminants  in 
general ;  most  other  monkeys  having  simple  stomachs  of 
the  normal  type. 

As   already   mentioned,   the    three    species    of  monkeys 


MALE  PROBOSCIS-MONKEY. 
A  species  confined  to  Borneo. 


\_Tofacep.  172 


SOME   QUEER-NOSED   MONKEYS  173 

which  have  gone  in  for  eccentric  nasal  development  are 
near  relatives  of  the  langurs.  The  first  of  these,  which 
has  been  known  in  Europe  since  1781,  is  an  inhabitant 
of  Borneo,  where,  be  it  observed,  there  are  also  true 
langurs  with  normal  noses.  As  may  be  seen  from  the 
figure,  which  represents  a  male  in  the  Natural  History 
branch  of  the  British  Museum,  the  proboscis  monkey,  as 
the  species  is  called,  is  characterised  by  the  inordinate 
length  of  the  nasal  organ  of  the  adult  male,  which  projects 
far  in  front  of  the  line  of  the  mouth,  and  gives  to  the 
whole  physiognomy  a  most  grotesque  appearance.  So 
remarkable,  indeed,  is  the  face  of  this  monkey,  that  the 
first  view  of  a  stuffed  specimen  suggests  to  the  beholder 
that  it  has  been  "  faked,"  after  the  fashion  of  the  "  bogus  " 
animals  formerly  manufactured  by  our  Japanese  friends. 
The  nostrils  are  situated  on  the  under  surface  of  the  tip 
of  this  ungainly  proboscis,  and  are  separated  from  another 
by  an  extremely  narrow  partition.  According  to  recent 
observations,  the  nose,  instead  of  projecting  straight  forward, 
should  bend  down  in  front  of  the  mouth.  In  the  case  of 
the  female  the  degree  of  nasal  development  is  considerably 
less ;  and  in  the  young  of  both  sexes  the  nose  is  com- 
paratively short,  with  the  nostrils  visible  from  the  front, 
instead  of  being  directed  downwards.  In  point  of  size, 
the  proboscis  monkey  is  a  comparatively  large  animal,  the 
length  of  the  head  and  body  of  the  adult  male  being  about 
thirty  inches,  and  that  of  the  tail  some  three  inches  less. 
Its  colour  is  likewise  conspicuous  and  striking,  the  upper 
parts,  with  the  exception  of  a  light  band  across  the  loins, 
being  brilliant  chestnut,  and  the  face,  which  is  fringed 
with  long  yellowish  hair,  a  reddish  flesh-colour. 

Far    more   brilliant   in   colour   is    the   first   of    the    two 
Tibetan  species  which  exhibit  the  opposite   type   of  nasal 


174  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

eccentricity  in  the  langur  group.  But  these  snub-nosed 
monkeys,  as  they  may  be  appropriately  called,  are  fully 
as  large  as  the  Bornean  species,  and  as  they  are  of  much 
stouter  build,  both  as  regards  body  and  limbs,  they  look 
considerably  bigger.  Instead  of  a  proboscis-like  develop- 
ment of  nose  these  two  very  peculiar  monkeys  have  their 
nasal  organs  bent  suddenly  upwards  at  a  sharp  angle  to 
the  line  of  the  face,  so  that  the  nostrils  are  fully  visible 
from  the  front ;  the  whole  aspect  of  the  face  being  curiously 
piquant.  The  species  here  figured — the  orange  snub-nosed 
monkey — was  first  made  known  to  European  science  by  the 
French  missionary,  Abbd  David,  who  obtained  specimens 
while  travelling  in  the  province  of  Moupin,  in  Eastern  Tibet. 
Some  of  his  specimens  are  preserved  in  the  Zoological 
Museum  at  Paris;  and  the  coloured  plate  of  a  female  has 
long  been  the  only  figure  available  to  naturalists.  Thanks, 
however,  to  an  energetic  English  naturalist  resident  in 
China,  the  British  Museum  a  few  years  ago  acquired  a 
pair  of  these  monkeys ;  the  figure  being  taken  from  the 
male,  which  has  been  mounted  for  exhibition,  and  forms 
one  of  the  most  attractive  specimens  in  the  large  monkey 
case.  Since  the  photograph  does  not  attempt  chromatic 
effect,  it  is  necessary  to  mention  that  the  general  colour  of 
the  upper-parts  is  rich  olive-brown,  flecked  with  yellow 
and  suffused  with  rufous,  while  the  sides  of  the  face,  the 
lower  part  of  the  forehead,  and  the  under-parts  are  brilliant 
yellowish  orange,  tending  to  full  orange  on  the  face,  the 
naked  portions  of  which  are  pale  blue.  Across  the  loins 
there  is  a  light  patch  comparable  to  that  of  the  proboscis 
monkey ;  the  tail  being  proportionately  rather  shorter  than 
in  the  latter,  with  a  distinct  tendency  towards  a  club-shape. 
Altogether,  the  appearance  of  the  animal  is  highly  peculiar, 
both  from  the  point  of  view  of  form  and  of  coloration. 


ORANGE  SNUB-NOSED  MONKEY. 
A  native  of  Sze-Chuen. 


[To  face  p.  174 


SOME  QUEER-NOSED   MONKEYS  175 

The  head,  for  example,  in  addition  to  its  "  tip-tilted  "  nose, 
is  noticeable  for  its  extreme  massiveness,  which  gives  an 
almost  leonine  appearance.  And  this  general  massiveness 
is  equally  observable  in  the  limbs,  which  are  relatively  shorter 
than  in  the  true  langurs  ;  the  feet  being  especially  heavy 
and  broad,  with  their  toes  almost  concealed  by  long  hair. 

And  here  the  attention  of  the  reader  may  be  directed  to 
the  circumstance  that  animals  inhabiting  cold  countries 
(and  Sze-chuan,  where  the  British  Museum  specimens 
were  obtained,  can  be  very  cold)  are  almost  always  much 
more  heavily  and  substantially  built  than  their  relatives 
from  warmer  climes.  An  excellent  instance  of  this  phe- 
nomenon is  afforded  by  the  case  of  tigers  in  the  same 
collection ;  the  Bengal  tiger  being  a  long  lanky  beast, 
while  its  cousin  from  Mongolia  is  a  heavily  built  creature, 
with  extraordinarily  massive  limbs.  Of  course  the  longer 
hair  of  the  Central  Asiatic  animal  tends  to  exaggerate  its 
general  massiveness,  which,  however,  would  be  perfectly 
apparent  even  without  this  extraneous  aid.  Possibly  a 
stout  and  heavy  build,  especially  as  regards  the  limbs, 
may  aid  in  protecting  the  circulatory  system  from  the 
effects  of  extreme  cold. 

As  regards  the  habits  of  the  orange  snub-nosed  monkey, 
our  information  is  of  the  most  meagre  description.  These 
animals  are  stated,  however,  to  congregate  in  troops  of 
considerable  size,  and  to  ascend  the  tallest  trees  (the  part 
of  Tibet  they  inhabit  being  more  or  less  wooded)  in  search 
of  fruits,  which  they  much  prefer  to  leaves.  When  pressed 
by  hunger,  leaves  and  the  tender  shoots  of  bamboo  are 
said  to  form  their  staple  nutriment.  Bearing  in  mind 
this  alleged  partiality  for  fruits,  it  would  be  interesting  to 
determine  whether  the  stomach  of  these  monkeys  is  as 
complex  as  that  of  the  true  langurs. 


1 76  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

In  1899  the  professors  of  the  Paris  Museum  were  enabled 
to  publish,  with  excellent  coloured  plates,  the  description 
of  a  second  species  of  the  same  group,  also  coming  from 
Tibet  and  the  adjacent  districts  of  North- Western  China. 

This  second  species,  which  may  be  popularly  known  as 
the  slaty  snub-nosed  monkey,  is  fully  as  large  as  its  more 
brilliantly  coloured  relative,  which  it  also  resembles  in  the 
form  of  its  nose.  The  tail  is,  however,  much  more  bushy, 
and  long-haired  throughout.  And  while  the  colour  of  the 
upper-parts  and  outer  and  front  surfaces  of  the  limbs  is 
dark  slaty  brown,  the  cheeks,  under-parts,  and  thighs  are 
mostly  pure  white;  the  naked  portions  of  the  face  being 
flesh-coloured. 

The  specimens  of  the  slate-coloured  species  in  the  Paris 
Museum  were  obtained  in  the  north-west  extremity  of 
Yun-nan,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  River  Mekong,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Yerkalo,  and  it  seems  evident  that  the 
species  inhabits  the  crest  of  the  long  range  separating 
the  valley  of  the  Mekong  from  that  of  the  Yang-tsi-kiang. 
During  the  summer  it  is  probable  they  frequent  that  side 
of  the  range  which  overlooks  China,  while  their  winter 
quarters  would  appear  to  be  the  side  directed  towards 
Tibet.  The  native  name  of  "  tchru-tchra,"  or  snow-monkey, 
sufficiently  indicates  the  severity  of  the  climate  of  the 
region  they  inhabit.  Probably  the  Blue  River  forms  the 
line  of  division  between  the  distributional  areas  of  the  slaty 
and  the  orange  species,  the  latter  being  found  in  Southern 
Kansu,  Northern  Sze-chuan,  and  Moupin. 

Despite  their  long  isolation  from  the  sphere  of  European 
science,  one,  if  not  both,  of  these  peculiar  monkeys  seems 
to  have  been  known  to  the  Chinese  from  time  immemorial, 
for  in  a  work  entitled  "  Shan-Hoi-King,"  or  "  Mountain  and 
Sea  Record,"  which  has  been  supposed  to  date  from  earlier 


SOME   QUEER-NOSED   MONKEYS  177 

than  2000  B.C.,  a  so-called  man  of  the  Heu  Yeung 
kingdom  appears,  from  his  tip-tilted  nose,  to  be  one  or 
other  of  the  species  under  consideration. 

In  the  foregoing  remarks  we  have  treated  the  three 
species  of  monkeys  with  eccentric  nasal  development 
merely  as  zoological  curiosities.  But  it  will  be  evident 
to  every  thinking  mind  that  there  must  be  a  reason  for 
such  strange  departures  from  the  normal,  and  until  we 
discover  such  reason  we  cannot  be  said  to  know  anything 
worth  knowing  about  these  animals.  Unfortunately,  those 
who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  these  monkeys  in 
their  native  haunts  have  not  assisted  us  in  this  matter,  and 
there  is  an  absolute  lack  of  information  in  regard  to  this 
all-important  point.  That  the  problem  cannot  be  solved 
by  guessing  on  the  part  of  the  stay-at-home  naturalist 
may  be  regarded  as  practically  certain.  At  the  present 
day,  owing  partly  to  the  anxiety  to  describe  new  species 
and  varieties,  and  partly  to  the  desire  to  obtain  specimens 
of  every  animal  for  our  museums,  there  appears  a  great 
tendency  for  intelligent  explorers  and  travellers  to  de- 
generate from  field -naturalists  into  mere  collectors.  And 
the  pity  of  this  is  too  obvious  to  need  more  than  mention. 
It  is  indeed  often  said  that  it  is  most  important  to  obtain 
specimens  of  species  before  they  become  extinct ;  but  the 
discovery  of  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  tip-tilted  nose  of  the 
Tibetan  monkeys,  or  of  the  proboscis-like  organ  of  their 
Bornean  cousin,  would  be  a  thousand  times  more  valuable 
than  the  acquisition  of  untold  specimens  of  either.  And 
even  the  recently  acquired  knowledge  of  the  existence  of 
the  second  species  of  snub-nosed  monkey  pales  into  un- 
importance when  contrasted  with  the  unsolved  problem. 
By  all  means,  then,  let  all  those  who  have  the  opportunity 
put  mere  collecting  into  a  very  subsidiary  place,  and  devote 

12 


178  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

all  their  energies  to  the  solution  of  problems  of  this  nature 
(and  their  name  is  legion)  before  it  becomes  for  ever  too 
late. 

After  what  has  been  said  as  to  the  necessity  of  actual 
observation  to  determine  the  reason  for  the  peculiar  nasal 
development  of  these  monkeys,  it  would  obviously  be  out 
of  place  to  attempt  to  solve  the  problem  in  any  other  way. 
Attention  may,  however,  be  directed  to  the  circumstance 
that  the  chiru,  or  Tibetan  antelope,  has  a  remarkably 
swollen  and  puffy  nose.  And  although  the  saiga  antelope, 
of  the  plains  of  Central  Russia,  has  an  equally  remarkable 
nasal  development,  yet  it  seems  highly  probable  that  in 
the  case  of  the  chiru,  at  any  rate,  the  enlarged  size  of  the 
nasal  chamber  and  nostrils  is  correlated  with  the  rarefied 
atmosphere  of  the  elevated  plateau  on  which  that  ruminant 
dwells.  The  snub-nosed  monkeys,  although  living  at  a 
considerably  lower  elevation  than  the  chiru,  are  yet  "  well 
up  in  the  world  " ;  and  since  the  shape  of  the  nose  in  the 
former  would  appear  designed  to  admit  the  passage  of  as 
much  air  as  possible  with  the  least  impediment,  it  may 
perhaps  be  suggested  that  the  habitat  has  something  to  do 
with  the  nose  structure.  As  to  the  reason  for  the  genesis 
of  the  ungainly  proboscis  of  the  Bornean  monkey,  I  have 
not  even  the  rudiment  of  a  theory  to  offer  my  readers. 


A    REMARKABLE   MAMMAL 

MY  readers  are  not  to  imagine  that  the  animal  whose 
portrait  appears  as  a  frontispiece  to  this  work  is  one  new 
to  science,  or  even  one  whose  structure  has  hitherto  been 
imperfectly  known.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  been  known 
to  science  for  nearly  a  century  and  a  quarter ;  but  it  is 
altogether  such  a  peculiar  and  interesting  creature  that  it 
may  well  form  the  text  of  an  article. 

Like  so  many  of  its  cousins  the  lemurs,  the  aye-aye 
is  an  inhabitant  of  Madagascar,  from  the  west  coast  of 
which  island  the  first  specimen  known  to  European 
science  was  brought  to  Paris  in  1780  by  the  French 
traveller  Sonnerat,  who  discovered  several  other  curious 
mammals  and  birds.  By  the  naturalists  of  that  time, 
despite  the  remarkable  peculiarity  in  the  structure  of 
the  forepaws  mentioned  later  on  in  this  article,  it  was 
regarded  as  a  squirrel,  and  accordingly  named  Sciurus 
Madagascar iensis.  It  was,  however,  soon  after  apparent 
that,  whatever  might  be  its  real  affinities,  it  could 
not  rightly  be  retained  in  the  same  genus  as  the  true 
squirrels ;  and  it  was  accordingly  renamed,  at  first 
Daubentonia,  and  subsequently  Chiromys  (Cheiromys). 
The  justification  for  the  proposal  of  this  second  title  was 
that  the  first  had  been  previously  employed  in  botany, 
which  was  then  (although  not  now)  regarded  as  a  bar 
to  its  use  in  zoology.  And  at  the  present  day  some 

179 


i8o  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

naturalists  think  that  the  almost  forgotten  Daubentonia 
ought  to  be  resuscitated,  and  the  familiar  Chiromys 
abolished.  This,  however,  is  a  matter  which  may  be  left 
for  the  specialists  to  settle  among  themselves. 

But  it  is  not  with  regard  to  its  scientific  name  alone 
that  the  creature  has  been  unfortunate ;  a  difference  of 
opinion  having  arisen  as  to  its  right  to  the  name  "  aye- 
aye,"  by  which  it  has  been  universally  known  since 
Sonnerat's  time.  That  traveller,  it  appears,  had  at  first 
two  living  specimens  captured  on  the  west  coast  of 
Madagascar ;  and  when  these  were  seen  by  the  natives 
of  the  east  coast  (where  the  species  is  unknown),  they 
ejaculated  "aye-aye" — or  more  probably  "hai-hai" — which 
seems,  not  unnaturally,  to  have  been  regarded  as  the 
native  name  of  the  animal.  At  least  as  early  as  1860 
it  was,  however,  suggested  that  in  place  of  being  the 
animal's  name,  it  was  merely  an  exclamation  of  surprise 
at  the  sight  of  a  strange  and  unknown  creature.  And 
this  view  of  the  case  is  maintained  to  be  correct  by 
Mr.  Shaw,  a  missionary  who  resided  for  many  years  in 
Madagascar.  On  the  other  hand,  another  missionary, 
Mr.  Baron,  affirms  that  the  name  "  hai-hai "  is  derived 
from  the  creature's  peculiar  cry. 

When  those  who  have  the  best  opportunities  for 
deciding  arrive  at  such  opposite  conclusions,  it  is  difficult 
for  others  to  form  a  judgment.  I  have,  however,  con- 
sulted a  naturalist  familiar  with  Madagascar,  who  tells 
me  that  "hai"  is  undoubtedly  the  Malagasy  expression 
of  surprise  or  wonderment  ;  and  that  as  the  aye-aye 
is  a  shy  and  rare  creature,  seldom  seen  even  by  the 
natives  of  the  districts  where  it  is  found,  and  then 
regarded  with  superstitious  awe,  the  colloquial  expression 
of  wonderment  may  well  have  become  its  accepted  name. 


A   REMARKABLE   MAMMAL  181 

If,  however,  "  hai-hai "  be,  as  Mr.  Baron  asserts,  the 
creature's  own  cry,  then  it  would  seem  more  likely  that 
the  exclamation  has  been  derived  from  the  animal,  and 
not  that  the  animal  has  taken  its  name  from  the  exclamation. 
Anyway,  there  seems  undoubtedly  to  be  some  kind  of 
connection  between  the  exclamation  "  hai-hai "  and  the 
name  "  aye-aye,"  and  we  may  therefore  be  content  to 
accept  the  latter  as  the  popular  title  for  Chiromys 
madagascariensis.  The  naturalist  to  whom  allusion  is 
made  above  tells  me,  however,  that  the  creature  certainly 
has  another  vernacular  title  in  some  parts  of  the  island. 

As  already  mentioned,  the  naturalist  Gmelin,  by  whom 
the  aye-aye  was  originally  described,  regarded  it  as  a 
kind  of  squirrel — an  opinion  shared  at  first  by  the  great 
anatomist  Cuvier.  This  view  of  its  relationship  was 
doubtless  formed  from  the  somewhat  squirrel-like  appearance 
of  the  animal,  and  the  approximation  made  by  its  teeth  to 
the  rodent  type.  When,  however,  the  Paris  specimen  was 
more  carefully  examined,  and  its  skull  and  certain  other 
bones  removed  from  the  skin,  it  became  apparent  that  its 
relationships  were  evidently  with  the  lemurs  ;  the  German 
naturalist  Schreber  being  the  one  to  whom  the  honour  of 
this  identification  is  due. 

From  Schreber's  time  till  1860  little  or  nothing  more 
was  done  to  advance  our  knowledge  of  the  aye-aye,  of 
which  the  Paris  specimen  remained  the  only  example 
in  Europe.  In  1858,  however,  Dr.  Sandwith  left  England 
for  Madagascar,  and  previous  to  his  departure  Sir  Richard 
(then  Professor)  Owen  impressed  upon  him  the  importance 
of  endeavouring  to  obtain  specimens  of  this  rare  animal. 
A  year  later  the  Professor  received  a  letter  stating  that 
with  much  difficulty  a  specimen  had  been  secured ;  and 
this  in  due  course  arrived  in  England  preserved  in  spirit. 


182  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

It  was  dissected  and  described  by  Owen  in  1860;  and 
from  the  beautiful  drawing  by  Wolf  which  accompanies 
that  memoir  the  figure  illustrating  the  present  article  is 
reproduced. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  specimen  sent  to  Owen 
a  living  example  of  this  strange  animal  was  received  at 
the  menagerie  of  the  Zoological  Society  in  Regent's  Park ; 
this  being  a  female  presented  in  1862  by  Mr.  E.  Mellish. 
An  excellent  account  of  the  habits  of  this  animal  in 
captivity  was  published  by  the  late  Mr.  A.  D.  Bartlett  in 
the  Society's  Proceedings  for  the  same  year.  A  male  and 
female  were  also  received  in  the  menagerie  in  the  summer 
of  1883,  while  a  fourth  specimen  was  purchased  in  the 
autumn  of  1887. 

The  ordinary  public  saw,  however,  little  or  nothing  of 
these  specimens,  for  as  might  be  inferred  by  its  large 
eyes,  the  aye-aye  is  essentially  a  nocturnal  creature, 
remaining  comfortably  curled  up  during  the  daylight  hours, 
and  only  venturing  out  as  darkness  comes  on.  In  this 
respect  it  resembles  the  majority  of  its  cousins  the  lemurs ; 
and  were  we  naming  animals  afresh,  the  name  lemur  would 
in  some  ways  have  been  more  appropriate  to  this  particular 
species  than  to  those  to  which  it  properly  belongs.  For 
the  word  "  lemur "  in  its  original  signification  means  a 
ghost,  and  not  only  is  the  aye-aye  stealthy  and  ghost-like 
in  its  movements,  but  it  is  regarded  with  superstitious 
dread  by  the  Malagasy,  who  believe  it  to  be  a  kind 
of  spirit. 

As  already  mentioned,  the  aye-aye  has  somewhat  the 
appearance  of  a  large  dark-coloured  squirrel ;  and  in  size 
it  may  be  compared  roughly  to  a  cat,  the  total  length 
being  about  three  feet.  The  head  and  face  are  short  and 
rounded ;  and  the  large  eyes  are  furnished  with  a  membrane 


A   REMARKABLE   MAMMAL  183 

which  can  be  drawn  across  them  from  one  side.  The 
large  and  rounded  ears,  which  are  inclined  backwards, 
are  naked  and  dotted  with  a  number  of  small  tubercles. 
The  blackish  brown  hair  all  over  the  body  is  long  and 
coarse,  but  becomes  longer  still  on  the  long  and  bushy 
tail.  Nothing  very  remarkable  exists  in  the  structure  of 
the  hind-limbs,  which  somewhat  exceed  the  front  pair  in 
length  ;  but  the  forepaws,  or  hands,  which  are  unusually 
elongated,  display  a  most  strange  peculiarity.  As  in  lemurs 
generally,  the  thumb  is  capable  of  being  opposed  to  the 
index  finger,  which  is  short ;  the  latter,  together  with 
the  fourth  and  fifth  digits,  being  of  normal  thickness  and 
provided  with  long  compressed  and  pointed  claws.  The 
third  or  middle  finger,  as  is  beautifully  shown  in  the 
figure,  is,  however,  quite  unlike  the  others,  being  extremely 
thin  and  spider-like.  Of  its  use,  mention  will  be  made 
later. 

This  attenuated  middle  finger  is  one  of  two  marked 
peculiarities  whereby  the  aye-aye  differs  so  strangely  from 
its  relatives  the  lemurs.  Its  other  peculiarity  is  to  be 
found  in  its  dentition.  Ordinary  lemurs,  it  may  be  observed, 
have  from  thirty-two  to  thirty-six  teeth ;  the  incisor  or  front 
teeth,  although  presenting  certain  peculiarities  of  form, 
agreeing  numerically  with  those  of  monkeys  and  man  in  most 
cases.  In  the  aye-aye,  however,  there  are  only  eighteen 
teeth,  all  told  ;  the  incisors  being  reduced  to  a  single  pair  in 
each  jaw,  the  canines,  or  tusks,  wanting,  and  the  cheek-teeth, 
or  grinders,  comprising  four  pairs  in  the  upper  and  three 
in  the  lower  jaw.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  the  incisors,  which 
grow  throughout  life,  are  large  somewhat  chisel-like 
teeth,  recalling  in  many  respects  those  of  a  beaver  or 
other  rodent,  although  with  peculiarities  of  their  own 
which  render  them  easily  distinguishable  from  those  of  all 


1 84  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  members  of  that  group.  Still,  the  whole  character 
of  the  dentition  is  so  essentially  rodent-like  that  there  is 
little  wonder  the  old  naturalists  regarded  the  aye-aye  as 
a  near  relative  of  the  squirrels. 

The  general  anatomy  of  the  aye-aye,  especially  the 
structure  of  its  skull,  shows,  however,  that  it  is  certainly 
a  near  relative  of  the  lemurs,  which  are  themselves  distant 
cousins  of  the  monkeys,  from  which,  among  many  other 
peculiarities,  they  differ  by  their  expressionless,  fox-like 
faces.  The  aye-aye  is  therefore  classed  as  a  lemuroid  ;  of 
which  group,  owing  to  the  peculiarity  of  its  dentition  and 
its  attenuated  middle  finger,  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  highly 
aberrant  and  specialised  member. 

Unfortunately,  in  spite  of  recent  explorations  in  the 
superficial  deposits  of  Madagascar,  where  bones  of  huge 
extinct  lemuroids  have  been  disinterred,  nothing  whatever 
is  known  as  to  the  ancestry  of  the  aye-aye.  Evidently, 
however,  it  must  be  a  comparatively  ancient  type,  for,  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  analogy  of  other  groups,  a  long 
period  of  time  must  have  been  required  to  allow  of  the 
gradual  evolution  and  development  of  its  characteristic 
peculiarities  of  dental  and  manual  structure. 

Evidently  these  peculiarities  must  be  connected  with  its 
mode  of  life.  And  we  learn  from  those  who  have  observed 
the  creature  in  its  native  forests  or  in  captivity,  that  the 
aye-aye,  unlike  the  true  lemurs,  subsists  largely  upon  wood- 
boring  insect  larvae,  especially  on  the  larva  of  a  beetle  known 
to  the  Malagasy  by  the  name  of  andraitra.  Apparently  the 
aye-aye  possesses  a  sense  of  hearing  so  acute  that  when 
on  a  bough  it  can  hear  the  faint  rasping  sound  made  by 
the  jaws  of  the  andraita  as  it  bores  its  way  through  the 
wood  in  the  interior.  Thereupon  it  at  once  sets  to  work 
with  its  powerful  front  teeth  to  chisel  away  the  intervening 


A   REMARKABLE   MAMMAL  185 

wood  till  it  opens  up  the  tunnel  of  the  burrowing 
larva.  As  soon  as  the  tunnel  is  reached  the  attenuated 
middle  finger  is  thrust  in,  either  to  act  as  a  probe  to 
determine  the  position  of  the  larva,  or  to  drag  it  out  from 
its  hiding-place,  or  perhaps  for  both  purposes.  Some  un- 
certainty still  obtains  as  to  the  exact  details  of  these  and 
other  operations  of  a  like  nature,  for  our  information  on 
these  points  appears  to  be  mainly,  if  not  exclusively,  based 
on  native  accounts.  There  is,  however,  little  doubt  that 
the  modus  operandi  is  in  the  main  as  described  above. 

We  thus  have  a  sufficient  and  satisfactory  explanation 
of  the  reason  why  the  aye-aye  differs  so  remarkably  in  its 
dentition  and  in  the  structure  of  its  hand  from  all  its  living 
kindred.  If,  however,  we  attempt  to  account  for  the  gradual 
development  of  these  peculiarities  by  what  is  commonly  called 
natural  selection,  we  encounter  considerable  difficulty.  It  is 
easy  to  conceive  how  the  ancestors  of  the  horse  lost  their 
lateral  toes  by  disuse,  but  how  an  ancestral  aye-aye  gradually 
reduced  the  size  of  its  middle  finger  till  it  assumed  the 
attenuated  proportions  of  its  existing  representative  is  very 
hard  to  understand,  seeing  that  a  slight  diminution  in  the 
calibre  of  this  digit  would  be  of  little  or  no  advantage. 
Some  much  more  potent  cause  than  "  natural  selection " 
seems  necessary  in  this,  as  in  many  other  instances. 

As  regards  its  general  mode  of  life,  the  aye-aye  wanders 
through  the  silent  forest  at  night  in  pairs,  and  never  appears 
to  associate  with  others  of  its  fellows  than  its  partner.  Pro- 
bably the  partnership  is  for  life,  but  on  this  point  we  have 
no  definite  information.  The  aye-aye  is  one  of  the  com- 
paratively few  mammals  which  build  a  regular  nest ;  this 
being  constructed,  according  to  Mr.  Baron,  of  the  carefully 
rolled  up  leaves  of  one  particular  kind  of  tree,  and  lined 
with  small  twigs  and  dry  leaves ;  the  whole  structure  having 


i86  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

a  diameter  of  about  a  couple  of  feet.  Apparently  the  sole  use 
of  this  nest  is  as  a  nursery,  and  in  it  at  the  proper  season 
the  female  brings  forth  a  solitary  offspring — whether  born 
naked  or  clothed  with  hair  does  not  seem  to  be  ascertained. 
The  female  alone  builds  the  nest,  which  is  placed  securely 
in  the  fork  of  a  tree. 

In  addition  to  the  use  described  above,  the  attenuated 
middle  finger  is  employed  to  comb  the  hair  and  clean  the 
eyes,  mouth,  and  nose ;  the  animal,  when  thus  engaged, 
generally  suspending  itself  head-downwards  from  a  bough 
by  its  hind-feet ;  at  any  rate,  this  is  the  case  in  captivity. 
As  a  rule,  the  food  is  not  held  in  the  paws,  after  the 
usual  monkey  and  lemur  fashion,  although  the  act  of 
drinking  is  performed  in  an  ape-like  manner,  the  fingers 
being  first  dipped  in  water  and  then  sucked. 

Besides  the  boring  larvae  already  alluded  to,  it  is  certain 
that  the  aye-aye  will  eat  various  other  kinds  of  food, 
although  native  accounts  differ  to  a  considerable  extent  on 
this  point.  Some  say,  for  instance,  that  it  subsists  largely 
on  birds  and  their  eggs,  while  others  assert  that  honey  is 
its  favourite  food.  Probably  there  is  some  degree  of  truth 
in  all  these  accounts,  and  that  the  creature  is  to  a  certain 
extent  omnivorous.  It  will  eat  sugar-cane  with  considerable 
gusto,  and  in  captivity  has  been  known  to  take  bananas. 
But  that  these  latter  are  not  its  natural  food  would  seem  to 
be  evident  from  the  fact  that  they  stick  in  and  clog  its  teeth. 

As  regards  its  distribution,  the  aye-aye  is  a  very  local 
animal ;  its  chief  habitat  being  the  great  forest  clothing  the 
eastern  border  of  the  great  central  plateau  of  the  island. 
Here,  however,  it  is  apparently  restricted  to  the  district 
forming  the  confines  of  the  provinces  of  Sihanaka  and 
Betsimisaraka,  which  is  situate  about  five-and-twenty  miles 
inland  in  latitude  17°  22'  S.  I  am,  however,  informed  by 


A   REMARKABLE   MAMMAL  187 

the  friend  mentioned  above  that  an  aye-aye  occurs  in  the 
south  of  the  island,  which,  if  its  habitat  is  isolated  from 
that  of  the  typical  form,  may  turn  out  to  be  a  new  local 
race,  or  possibly  even  a  distinct  species. 

Although  the  aye-aye  is  certainly  far  from  being  a  common 
animal,  yet  it  is  probably  less  rare  than  is  often  supposed. 
Its  supposed  great  rarity  appears  to  be  largely  due  to  the 
dread  in  which  it  is  held  by  the  natives,  who  can  seldom 
be  induced  to  capture  a  specimen.  It  is  believed  to  be 
endowed  with  the  power  of  causing  the  death  of  those  who 
attempt  its  capture,  and  it  is  consequently  only  some  of  the 
bolder  natives  who  will  venture  on  this  undertaking,  and 
then  only  after  providing  themselves  with  a  charm  to 
counteract  the  effects  of  the  creature's  supposed  super- 
natural power.  Occasionally,  according  to  Mr.  Baron's 
notes,  it  is  taken  in  traps  set  for  lemurs  ;  but  it  is 
then,  unless  the  owner  is  possessed  of  the  aforesaid  charm, 
invariably  set  at  liberty,  after  being  anointed  with  fat  in 
order  to  propitiate  its  goodwill  and  forgiveness.  Only 
very  occasionally  is  a  specimen  offered  for  sale  in  the 
market  at  Tamatave,  when  a  good  price — presumably  from 
Europeans — is  always  obtained. 


THE   PEDIGREE   OF   THE   CAT* 

ALTHOUGH  it  is  a  common  notion  that  our  ordinary  "  tabby  " 
is  the  direct  descendant  of  the  European  wild  cat  (Felts 
catus),  now  nearly  exterminated  in  Britain,  the  best  modern 
authorities  are  of  opinion  that  the  real  ancestor  is  a  wild 
species  inhabiting  North-Eastern  Africa,  and  commonly 
known  as  the  Egyptian  cat  (Felts  libycd) ;  a  reputed 
variety  of  the  same  species  being  stated  to  inhabit  parts  of 
Southern  Europe.  The  facility  with  which  several  of  the 
smaller  species  of  wild  cats  will  breed  together,  and  likewise 
the  circumstance  that  the  domesticated  cats  of  Asia  appa- 
rently have  an  origin  distinct  from  that  of  the  European 
breeds,  renders  the  subject  one  of  more  difficulty  than 
might  at  first  seem  to  be  the  case. 

With  regard  to  the  differences  between  the  domesticated 
and  the  wild  cat,  it  has  been  generally  asserted  that  the 
latter  is  considerably  the  larger  animal  of  the  two,  although 
the  comparisons  made  by  Dr.  E.  Hamilton,  who  has 
published  a  book  on  the  subject,  indicate  that  this  is  not 
really  the  case.  The  statement  that  the  tail  of  the  wild 
species  is  shorter  and  stouter  seems  largely  due  to  the 
circumstance  that  the  fur  is  more  abundant  and  bushy, 

*  A  portion  of  the  substance  of  this  and  the  next  article  appear 
in  the  one  on  "the  Origin  of  Domesticated  Animals."  In  spite, 
however,  of  a  certain  amount  of  repetition,  it  has  been  thought 
advisable  to  let  all  three  stand  in  their  original  form. 

188 


THE   PEDIGREE   OF  THE   CAT  189 

so  that  the  tail  of  the  domesticated  breeds  appears  longer 
and  more  slender ;  but,  on  the  whole,  it  seems  that  in 
domesticated  cats  the  tail  does  differ  to  a  certain  extent  in 
this  respect  from  that  of  the  pure-bred  wild  animal,  although 
individuals  of  the  domesticated  breeds  are  sometimes  met 
with  which  exhibit  scarcely  any  difference  in  this  respect 
from  the  wild  cat.  Obviously,  then,  the  tail — on  which  so 
much  stress  has  been  laid — is  not  a  matter  of  very  much 
importance  in  the  inquiry.  With  regard  to  the  general 
coloration  of  the  fur,  although  both  the  wild  cat  and  a 
large  number  of  individuals  of  the  old  European  domesticated 
breed  are  what  is  commonly  known  as  the  "  tabby "  type, 
the  markings  of  pure-bred  specimens  of  the  former  are 
stated  to  present  certain  differences  from  those  of  the  latter, 
and  are  described  as  being  more  tiger-like.  Then,  too,  the 
dark  rings  on  the  tail  of  the  wild  cat  appear  blackish 
brown  when  held  against  the  light,  whereas  those  of  the 
domestic  tabby  are  jetty  black. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  point  in  which  domesti- 
cated cats  differ  from  the  pure-bred  wild  cat,  and  thereby 
resemble  the  Egyptian  cat,  is  in  the  coloration  of  the  hind- 
foot.  Dr.  A.  Nehring,  of  Berlin,  who  first  brought  the 
fact  to  notice,  states  that  in  the  Egyptian  animal  the  pads 
on  the  under-surface  of  the  toes  are  black,  this  colour 
extending  upwards  on  the  foot  as  far  as  the  heel-bone,  the 
under-surface  of  this  part  of  the  limb  being  in  some  cases 
wholly  black,  but  in  others  marked  with  black  stripes 
on  a  lighter  ground.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pure-bred 
wild  cat  has  only  a  small  black  spot  on  the  pads,  while  the 
colour  of  the  fur  on  the  under-surface  of  the  foot  as  far 
up  as  the  heel-bone  is  some  shade  of  yellow  or  yellowish 
grey.  Since  all  European  domesticated  cats — except,  of 
course,  those  which  are  wholly  black  or  white — agree  with 


190  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  former  type  of  coloration,  there  seems  full  justification 
for  regarding  them  as  the  descendants  of  the  Egyptian 
cat.  Moreover,  the  tail  of  the  latter  is  distinctly  longer 
and  less  bushy  than  that  of  the  wild  cat,  and  thus  more 
like  that  of  the  domestic  breeds.  Additional  evidence  in 
favour  of  the  southern  origin  of  our  domesticated  breeds 
has  been  furnished  by  Dr.  G.  Martorelli,  of  Milan,  who 
has  described  two  European  wild  cats,  the  one  from 
Sardinia  and  the  other  from  the  Tuscan  Maremma.  These 
are  stated  to  be  very  different  from  the  ordinary  wild  cat, 
and  to  approximate  to  the  Egyptian  cat,  of  which  they 
are  regarded  as  forming  a  race  or  variety,  under  the  name 
of  the  Mediterranean  cat  (F.  mediterranea).  As  these  cats 
are  stated  to  present  considerable  resemblance  to  domes- 
ticated breeds,  there  can  be  little  hesitation  in  accepting 
the  view  that,  so  far  as  Europe  is  concerned,  the  latter 
were  originally  derived  from  the  Egyptian  cat. 

But  Prof.  Martorelli  goes  one  step  farther  than  this, 
and  suggests  that  the  European  wild  cat,  through  the 
intervention  of  the  Mediterranean  race  of  the  Egyptian 
cat,  is  likewise  descended  from  the  latter.  Curiously 
enough,  Dr.  Hamilton,  from  the  circumstance  that  certain 
fossil  remains  found  in  Belgium  and  England  seemed  to 
belong  to  F.  libyca  rather  than  F.  catus,  had  previously 
hazarded  the  conjecture  "  that  the  European  wild  cat  and 
the  Egyptian  domestic  cat  are  derived  from  one  common 
ancestor." 

Although  it  is  going  a  little  out  of  the  way,  it  may  be 
mentioned  here  that,  in  the  opinion  of  Prof.  Martorelli,  the 
Egyptian  cat  has  given  rise  to  another  line  of  descendants. 
The  first  species  on  this  line  is  the  jungle-cat  (F.  chaus) 
of  India  and  Africa,  while  the  second  place  is  occupied  by 
the  various  species  of  lynxes,  between  which  and  the 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  THE   CAT  191 

Egyptian  cat  the  jungle-cat  forms  a  connecting  link.  From 
a  side  branch  of  this  line  the  steppe-cat  (F.  caudata)  of 
Bokhara  is  considered  to  have  sprung. 

Returning  to  the  domesticated  cat  of  Europe,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  the  animal  termed  ailuros  by  the  ancient 
Greeks,  and  kept  by  them  in  a  domesticated  state,  was 
not  really  a  cat,  although  the  word  is  so  rendered  in  our 
translation  of  the  classics.  On  the  contrary,  it  appears, 
from  the  researches  of  the  late  Prof.  Rolleston,  of  Oxford, 
to  have  been  a  species  of  marten  (Musteld).  That  cats 
were  tamed  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  is  proved  by  the 
number  of  their  mummified  remains  entombed  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  notably  at  Bubastis.  Indeed,  so 
plentiful  are  mummified  cats,  that  a  few  years  ago  they 
formed  a  brisk  article  of  trade,  being  employed  for  manure. 
From  a  careful  examination  of  these  remains,  it  has  been 
inferred  by  Prof.  Virchow  that  the  animal  to  which  they 
belonged  was  indistinguishable  from  the  wild  Egyptian 
cat,  and  was  not  truly  domesticated.  In  one  of  the  ancient 
frescoes  of  the  country  there  is,  however,  depicted  a  cat 
presenting  a  striking  likeness  to  the  ordinary  "tabby," 
and  it  is  therefore  quite  possible  that  a  distinct  domesticated 
race  may  also  have  existed  in  ancient  Egypt.  There  is, 
indeed,  a  possibility  that  if  the  so-called  Mediterranean  cat 
be  really  a  wild  variety  of  the  Egyptian  cat,  a  domesticated 
race  may  have  originated  in  South-Eastern  Europe,  rather 
than  in  North-Eastern  Africa.  In  suggesting  that  the 
original  domestication  took  place  in  the  latter  area,  Dr. 
Hamilton  cites  the  occurrence  of  representations  of  undoubted 
Egyptian  cats  in  Etrurian  tombs  dating  from  a  period 
between  350  and  200  B.C.  And  a  correspondent  from 
Rome  wrote  to  him  as  follows :  "I  should  think  there 
was  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  Etruscans  received  the 


192  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

domestic  cat  from  the  Egyptians  by  means  of  the  Phoenician 
traders,  as  in  the  very  earliest  and  rudest  Etruscan  tombs 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Civeta  Castellani  (the  contents 
of  which  are  now  in  the  Museum  of  Papa  Giulio,  near 
Rome)  there  are  unmistakable  traces  of  the  Phoenician 
trade."  Without  denying  that  such  may  have  been  the 
case,  the  discovery  of  the  Mediterranean  cat,  as  already 
mentioned,  suggests  the  possibility  of  a  European  origin 
for  the  domesticated  breed.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Mediterranean  cat  itself  may  prove  to  be  merely  a  feral 
race  derived  from  an  Egyptian  importation. 

Be  this  as  it  may — and  the  problem  is  one  hardly 
capable  of  decisive  solution — Dr.  Nehring  is  of  opinion 
that  wild  cats  were  originally  brought  under  subjugation 
by  stationary  agricultural  tribes,  to  whom  it  must  have 
been  of  the  utmost  importance  that  their  hoards  of  grain 
should  be  protected  as  much  as  possible  from  the  ravages 
of  rats  and  mice. 

When  once  a  domesticated  breed  had  become  established 
in  Europe,  it  would  certainly  have  freely  crossed  with  the 
wild  cat.  And  it  seems  highly  probable  that  to  such 
crossing  is  due  the  great  prevalence  of  "  tabbies  "  in  Europe 
previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  now  fashionable  Persian 
breed,  the  wild  cat  having  the  dark  stripes  broader,  and 
frequently  more  numerous,  than  they  are  in  the  Egyptian 
cat. 

As  to  the  date  of  introduction  of  the  domesticated  cat 
into  Britain,  the  earliest  written  evidence  of  its  existence 
there  occurs  in  the  laws  of  the  Welsh  prince  Howel 
Dhu,  which  were  enacted  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth 
century.  Certain  remains  of  cats  have,  however,  been  dis- 
covered in  Roman  villas  in  this  country,  which  appear  to 
belong  to  the  domesticated  breed;  and  if  these  be  rightly 


THE  PEDIGREE   OF  THE   CAT  193 

identified,  the  first  introduction  of  the  animal  must  have 
been  at  a  much  earlier  date,  the  Roman  evacuation 
having  taken  place  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century 
of  our  era. 

Although  cats  of  all  colours  are  now  met  with,  and  some 
of  them  at  least  have  been  long  known  there,  the  preva- 
lence of  ft  tabby  "  is,  as  already  said,  very  characteristic  of 
the  old  domesticated  breed  in  Europe.  In  Eastern  Asia, 
on  the  other  hand,  as  was  long  since  pointed  out  by  that 
very  observant  naturalist  the  late  Edward  Blyth,  "  tabbies  " 
are  unknown,  and  either  spotted  or  uniformly  coloured  cats 
are  prevalent.  In  India,  for  instance,  where  they  have  not 
been  crossed  with  a  European  stock,  the  ordinary  cats  are 
either  spotted  or  fulvous,  with  barred  limbs.  In  Siam  we 
have  the  peculiar  and  valuable  Siamese  cat,  characterised 
by  the  uniformly  tawny  fur  of  the  body,  the  dark  muzzle, 
under-parts,  and  limbs,  the  short  legs,  and  blue  eyes. 
Again,  the  long-haired  Persian  or  Angora  breed  is  also 
uniformly  coloured,  the  prevalent  tints  being  white,  yel- 
lowish, or  greyish. 

Among  the  smaller  wild  species  of  the  genus  indigenous 
to  India  is  the  desert-cat  (Felts  ornata),  of  which  the 
general  colour  is  pale  sandy,  with  small  roundish  black 
spots  on  the  body  and  elongated  spots  or  streaks  on  the 
neck  and  face,  two  dark  bars  being  present  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  fore-limb.  From  this  species  have  probably 
originated  the  spotted  domesticated  cats  of  India,  in  which 
the  spots  tend  to  aggregate  into  streaks  on  the  fore-part 
of  the  body,  while  the  slender  tail  is  ringed.  Probably, 
however,  considerable  crossing  has  taken  place  with  two 
other  wild  Indian  species — namely,  the  leopard-cat  (F.  ben- 
galensis)  and  the  tiny  rusty-spotted  cat  (F.  rubiginosa). 
Many  of  these  spotted  Indian  domesticated  cats  have  run 

13 


i94  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

wild,    and    one    such    has    been    described    as    a    distinct 
species. 

With  regard  to  the  fulvous  domesticated  Indian  breed, 
in  which  the  fur  of  the  body  is  uniform  tawny,  the  legs 
barred,  and  the  tail  ringed,  it  seems  probable  that  this  too 
was  originally  descended  from  the  desert-cat,  but  that  it 
has  derived  its  uniform  coloration  from  the  jungle-cat 
(F.  chaus],  which,  as  already  said,  is  related  to  the  lynxes. 
That  it  is  not  the  direct  descendant  of  that  species  seems 
evident  from  the  different  relative  lengths  of  its  tail  and 
limbs,  and  the  absence  of  pencils  of  hair  on  the  ears. 

I  have  already  said  that  in  the  opinion  of  Prof. 
Martorelli  the  jungle-cat  and  steppe-cat  are  descendants 
of  the  Egyptian  cat ;  and  as  the  desert-cat  and  steppe-cat 
are  closely  allied,  it  follows  that,  if  his  views  be  correct, 
all  the  Indian  domesticated  cats  trace  their  ultimate  origin 
to  the  Egyptian  cat. 

Nothing  definite  is  known  as  to  the  origin  of  the  beau- 
tiful Siamese  cat,  but  it  seems  possible  that  it  may  be 
the  descendant  of  the  golden  or  bay  cat  (F.  temmincki)  of 
the  Malay  countries,  which  is  a  uniformly  coloured  bright 
ferruginous-red  or  dark-brown  species,  with  a  relatively 
short  tail. 

There  is  likewise  no  certain  information  with  regard  to 
the  pedigree  of  the  Persian  or  Angora  cat.  The  deserts 
of  Central  Asia  are,  however,  the  home  of  a  very  peculiar 
species  of  the  genus  Felts,  which  was  first  described  by  the 
Russian  naturalist  Pallas,  under  the  name  of  F.  manul,  and 
is  popularly  known  as  Pallas's  cat.  This  species,  which  is 
about  the  size  of  an  average  domesticated  cat,  differs  from 
all  other  wild  Old  World  members  of  the  genus  by  the 
great  length  and  softness  of  its  fur.  Its  general  colour  is 
pale  whitish  grey,  with  some  narrow  dark  markings  on  the 


THE   PEDIGREE   OF  THE   CAT  195 

chest,  loins,  and  limbs,  the  tail  being  short  and  ringed. 
With  the  exception  of  the  shortness  of  the  tail  and  its 
dark  rings^  all  the  characters  of  this  species  are  just 
those  which  might  be  expected  in  the  ancestor  of  the 
Persian  breed,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  points 
mentioned  may  have  been  eliminated  by  careful  selection 
or  crossing. 

To  discuss  certain  other  less  well-known  domesticated 
breeds  would  probably  be  wearisome  to  the  reader.  Suf- 
ficient has  been  said  to  indicate  that  the  origin  of  the 
animal  commonly  known  as  Felis  domestica  is  probably  a 
composite  one,  and  that  it  is  scarcely  entitled  to  be  called 
a  single  species. 

If  the  views  of  Prof.  Martorelli  be  found  substantially 
correct,  the  following  will  be  the  lines  of  evolution  :  Firstly, 
we  have  the  ancestral  type  of  the  Egyptian  cat  (F.  libyca\ 
inhabiting  North-Eastern  Africa  and  a  considerable  part 
of  Europe  during  the  Pleistocene,  and  perhaps  a  part 
of  the  Pliocene,  period.  From  this  original  species  origi- 
nated in  the  eastern  side  of  the  Old  World  the  Mediter- 
ranean cat  (F.  mediterranea)  and  the  wild  cat  (F.  catus). 
When  man  became  dominant  he  produced  the  European 
domesticated  breed,  either  directly  from  the  typical  Egyptian 
cat  or  from  its  variety  the  Mediterranean  cat.  And  this 
original  domestic  breed  soon  became  crossed  with  its  im- 
mediate cousin  the  wild  cat. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  East  the  original  Egyptian  cat 
gave  rise  to  the  jungle-cat  (F.  chaus\  the  steppe-cat  (F. 
caudata),  and  presumably,  therefore,  that  near  ally  of  the 
latter,  the  Indian  desert-cat  (F.  ornatd).  From  the  latter 
are  derived  the  spotted  Indian  domesticated  cats,  while 
the  fulvous  domesticated  breed  of  the  same  country  has 
been  produced  by  a  cross  with  the  jungle-cat.  Both  these 


196  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

are  now  largely  crossed  with  their  somewhat  remote  cousin, 
the  striped  domesticated  cat  of  Europe. 

The  Persian  cat,  as  we  have  seen,  may  probably  be 
derived  from  Pallas's  cat,  which  has  no  sort  of  connection 
with  the  Egyptian  cat ;  and  the  cross  between  the  Persian 
and  European  "  tabby,"  now  so  common,  is  consequently 
a  very  mixed  breed  indeed.  Finally,  it  is  probable  that 
the  Siamese  cat  has  an  ancestry  totally  distinct  from  that 
of  all  the  rest. 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  THE  DOG 

THE  number  of  breeds  and  varieties  of  the  domesticated 
dog  is  so  great  that  it  is  at  first  rather  hard  to  believe 
that  all  are  descended  from  a  few  wild  types.  Neverthe- 
less, the  differences  between  these  are  not  greater  than 
those  met  with  among  domesticated  pigeons  and  fowls, 
which  are  known  to  be  respectively  descended  from  the 
wild  pigeons  of  Europe  and  the  jungle-fowls  of  Asia.  A 
peculiarity  of  most  domesticated  dogs  is  their  power  of 
barking,  which  seems  to  be  entirely  unknown  among  all 
wild  members  of  the  family  Canidae,  even  the  semi-domes- 
ticated dogs  of  the  Eskimo  being  unable  to  bark,  as  are 
the  dingos  of  Australia.  But  if  kept  among  barking  dogs, 
both  these  breeds,  and  apparently  also  wolves  and  jackals, 
will  soon  learn  to  bark  in  a  more  or  less  thorough  manner. 
Barking  is,  therefore,  evidently  an  acquired  habit ;  but  that 
it  affords  no  argument  against  the  derivation  of  the  domes- 
ticated breeds  from  the  wild  races  is  evident  not  only  from 
the  above  instance,  but  also  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
Asiatic  jungle-fowl  are  unable  to  crow  in  the  manner 
characteristic  of  their  domesticated  descendants.  Several 
traits — such  as  turning  round  several  times  on  a  hearthrug 
in  order  to  make  a  hole  before  lying  down,  and  scratching 
up  earth  with  their  fore-feet  and  throwing  it  backwards 
with  the  hind  pair,  common  to  wolves  and  jackals — are 
inherited  by  even  the  most  domesticated  of  domestic 
dogs ;  and  these  are  evidently  of  great  value  in  helping  to 

197 


198  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

trace  the  ancestry.  A  German  writer,  the  late  Prof.  L. 
Fitzinger,  considered  that  domesticated  dogs  might  be 
divided  into  seven  well-marked  groups,  which  included 
close  upon  a  couple  of  hundred  of  more  or  less  well-marked 
breeds  and  varieties.  Other  authorities  are,  however,  of 
opinion  that  the  number  of  main  groups  might  be  reduced 
to  half  a  dozen,  these  including  wolf-like  dogs,  such  as  the 
Eskimo  breed,  the  various  kinds  of  greyhounds,  spaniels, 
hounds,  mastiffs,  and  lastly  terriers. 

All  who  have  written  on  the  subject  are  in  accord  in 
regarding  all  domesticated  dogs,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Australian  dingo,  as  constituting  but  a  single  species — the 
Cam's  familiaris  of  Linnaeus.  But  if  it  be  true,  as  seems 
probably  the  case,  that  domesticated  dogs  trace  their 
ancestry  to  more  than  a  single  wild  species,  it  will  be 
obvious  that  Cam's  familiaris  cannot  in  any  sense  be  re- 
garded as  equivalent  to  an  ordinary  wild  species  ;  and  that, 
properly  speaking,  if  this  were  possible,  the  various  true 
breeds  ought  to  be  affiliated  to  the  wild  species  from  which 
they  are  respectively  derived.  Still,  for  practical  purposes, 
the  ordinary  classification  may  be  accepted,  if  it  be  remem- 
bered that  Cants  familiaris,  like  Felis  domestica,  is  in  all 
probability  a  a  convergent "  species. 

By  naturalists  all  the  members  of  the  dog  tribe  are  in- 
cluded in  the  great  family  Canidae,  which  thus  embraces 
wolves,  jackals,  foxes,  wild  dogs,  the  African  hunting-dog, 
the  long-eared  fox  of  the  Cape,  and  the  bush-dog  of  Guiana. 
Somewhat  different  views  are  entertained  as  to  how  many 
of  these  should  be  included  in  the  typical  genus  Cam's,  but 
this  is  a  matter  which  needs  no  consideration  here,  and  we 
may  accordingly  proceed  to  eliminate  from  the  list  those 
groups  which  have  certainly  no  claim  to  be  on  the  ances- 
tral line  of  the  domesticated  breeds. 


THE   PEDIGREE   OF  THE   DOG  199 

First  of  all  we  may  dismiss  the  rare  South  American 
bush-dog  (Speothos),  which  is  a  small  somewhat  fox-like 
creature-;  with  a  short  tail  and  teeth  of  a  quite  peculiar 
type.  Equally  far  removed  from  the  line  are  the  long- 
eared  Cape  fox  (Otocyori)  and  the  African  hunting-dog 
(Lycaon),  the  former  having  more  teeth  than  the  domes- 
ticated breeds,  while  the  latter  has  fewer  toes.  Next  we 
may  eliminate  the  wild  dogs  of  Asia,  which  are  frequently 
separated  from  the  other  members  of  the  family  under 
the  name  of  Cyon,  as  all  these  have  one  pair  less  of 
cheek-teeth  in  the  lower  jaw,  and  therefore  obviously  can- 
not be  the  ancestral  stock,  as  an  organ  once  lost  cannot 
be  replaced.  Rather  nearer  to  the  domesticated  races  are 
the  foxes  and  fennecs  (Vulpes),  exclusive  of  the  South 
American  species  commonly  so  called.  But  if  we  examine 
the  skull  of  the  British  or  any  other  species  of  true  fox, 
an  important  difference  will  be  found  between  it  and  the 
skull  of  any  domesticated  dog,  wolf,  or  jackal.  This 
difference  is  best  displayed  in  the  shape  of  the  projecting 
process  of  bone  forming  the  hinder  border  of  the  socket  of 
the  eye ;  this  process  in  a  fox  being  distinctly  concave, 
whereas  in  all  the  others  it  is  highly  convex. 

We  thus  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  only  existing 
members  of  the  family  that  can  possibly  be  the  ancestors 
of  the  domesticated  breeds  are  wolves,  jackals,  the  Aus- 
tralian dingo,  and  certain  South  American  species  which, 
although  commonly  termed  foxes,  are  really  more  closely 
allied  to  the  jackals  and  wolves;  and  it  is  further  obvious 
that  the  only  extinct  species  which  can  claim  a  place  in  the 
line  of  descent  are  those  having  skulls  and  teeth  of  the 
wolf  type — in  other  words,  species  of  the  genus  Cam's  in 
its  restricted  sense. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  it   may  be  mentioned  in  con- 


200  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

firmation  of  the  foregoing  views  that  in  all  the  late  Mr. 
Bartlett's  long  experience  at  the  "  Zoo  "  he  never  met  with 
a  well-authenticated  instance  of  a  fox  interbreeding  with 
either  a  dog,  wolf,  or  jackal ;  and  although  newspaper 
reports  have  subsequently  mentioned  a  hybrid  between  a 
fox  and  a  dog,  it  is  obvious  that  such  crosses  are,  at  the 
most,  of  extreme  rarity. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  suitably  matched,  there  is  no 
sort  of  difficulty  in  obtaining  crosses  between  wolves  and 
jackals  and  domesticated  dogs ;  and  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  Eskimo  are  constantly  in  the  habit  of  crossing 
their  sledge-dogs  with  wolves  in  order  to  impart  strength 
and  stamina  to  the  breed.  Indeed,  Eskimo  dogs  are  so 
closely  related  to  wolves  that  there  can  be  no  question 
that  they  are  descended  from  them,  Mr.  Bartlett  remarking 
that  they  are  undoubtedly  "  reclaimed  or  domesticated 
wolves." 

This  being  so,  Eskimo  dogs  should  properly  be  called 
Cants  lupus  instead  of  Cam's  familiaris ;  and  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  all  domesticated  dogs  have  the  same  ancestry, 
the  former  name  should  stand  for  all.  On  the  other  hand, 
as  was  long  since  pointed  out  by  that  acute  observer  the 
late  Sir  John  Richardson,  the  Hare  Indians  of  North 
America,  who  inhabit  a  zone  lying  considerably  to  the 
south  of  Eskimo  territory,  have  dogs  very  closely  resem- 
bling the  small  American  prairie-wolf,  or  coyote,  which 
is  the  wild  species  most  commonly  met  with  in  their 
territory.  And  it  may  be  affirmed  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  confidence  that  the  Hare  Indian  dog  presents 
the  same  relationship  to  the  coyote  as  is  borne  by  the 
Eskimo  dog  to  the  wolf.  Accordingly,  if  we  base  our 
nomenclature  on  descent,  the  former  breed  ought  to  be 
called  Cam's  latrans. 


THE  PEDIGREE   OF  THE   DOG  201 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  domesticated 
dogs  trace  their  descent  back  to  at  least  two  wild  species, 
and  we  may  quote  once  more  from  Mr.  Bartlett,  who  writes 
as  follows :  "  All  wolves,  if  taken  young  and  reared  by 
man,  are  tame,  playful,  and  exhibit  a  fondness  for  those 
who  feed  and  attend  to  them.  The  same  may  be  said  for 
all  the  species  of  jackals.  This  being  so,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  both  wolves  and  jackals  were  for  many  ages 
in  the  company  of  man,  and  that  owing  to  this  association 
the  different  species  of  these  animals  may  have  bred 
together  and  become  domesticated." 

This  introduces  the  various  species  of  jackals  into  the 
problem,  and  since  there  is  a  marked  similarity  between 
certain  domesticated  breeds  of  dogs  and  jackals,  while  the 
native  domestic  dogs  of  nearly  every  country  present  a 
more  or  less  markedly  striking  likeness  to  one  or  other  of 
the  indigenous  wild  Canidae  of  the  same  district,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  Cam's  familiaris  has  a  multiple  origin, 
and  that  man  has  tamed  various  wild  races  at  different 
times  in  different  parts  of  the  globe.  And  it  will  be  obvious 
that  where  the  domestication  has  taken  place  in  very 
remote  ages,  and  there  has  been  much  subsequent  mingling 
and  shifting  of  population,  the  resemblance  to  the  wild 
species  will  be  the  least  marked.  On  the  other  hand, 
where  the  taming  has  been  comparatively  recent,  where 
there  has  been  no  shifting  of  population,  or  where  the 
original  breed  was  best  adapted  to  the  needs  of  its  masters, 
then  the  resemblance  to  the  original  stock  will  be  most 
likely  to  persist  longest. 

To  give  a  few  instances.  Mr.  Blyth  was  much  struck 
with  the  marked  resemblance  between  many  of  the  Indian 
pariah  dogs  and  the  wolf  of  the  same  country — a  resem- 
blance to  which  I  can  testify  from  my  own  experience.  In 


202  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

many  parts  of  Europe  the  wolf-dogs  and  sheep-dogs  are 
remarkably  like  the  races  of  wolves  inhabiting  the  same 
districts ;  and  the  black  Florida  wolf-dog  is  strikingly  similar 
to  the  black  wolf  of  that  country.  Sheep-dogs  may  there- 
fore be  included  among  the  breeds  descended  from  wolves, 
and  are  some  of  those  which  have  undergone  the  least 
amount  of  modification  from  the  parent  type.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  we  proceed  to  South-Eastern  Europe 
and  the  South  of  Asia,  we  meet  with  breeds  of  dogs  so 
like  the  jackals  of  the  same  districts  that  it  is  hard  to 
believe  they  are  not  very  closely  related.  South  Africa 
is  the  home  of  that  very  peculiar  species,  the  black-backed 
jackal,  and  in  many  districts  dogs  are  met  with  showing 
a  marked  resemblance  in  form  and  coloration  to  that 
species,  although  having  lost  the  deep  black  patch  on  the 
back  from  which  it  takes  its  name.  It  has  also  been 
noticed  that  certain  domesticated  breeds  in  South  America 
are  so  like  the  Cam's  azarae  of  the  same  region  as  to  lead 
to  the  belief  that  the  one  is  the  descendant  of  the  other. 

From  these  and  other  considerations  Darwin  was  led  to 
the  following  conclusion:  ''It  is  highly  probable  that  the 
domestic  dogs  of  the  world  are  descended  from  two  well- 
defined  species  of  wolf — namely,  C.  lupus  and  C.  latrans — 
and  from  two  or  three  doubtful  species — namely,  the 
European,  Indian,  and  North  African  wolves ;  from  at 
least  one  or  two  South  American  canine  species ;  from 
several  races  or  species  of  jackal ;  and  perhaps  from  one 
or  more  extinct  species." 

In  all  the  above-mentioned  instances  the  domesticated 
breeds  belong  either  to  half-savage  races,  or  are  those 
which,  like  wolf-dogs,  sheep-dogs,  and  pariah  dogs,  have 
departed  but  little  from  the  original  wolf  or  jackal  type. 
In  some  cases  we  have  seen  these  breeds  are  kept  true 


THE  PEDIGREE  OF  THE   DOG  203 

by  crossing  with  the  original  stock,  and  several  of  them 
may  be  comparatively  modern.  Such  breeds  throw  no 
light  on  the  origin  of  the  more  specialised  domesticated 
breeds,  such  as  mastiffs,  spaniels,  hounds,  and  terriers,  all 
of  which  are  quite  unlike  any  wild  species,  and  have 
evidently  undergone  a  long  course  of  modification,  dating 
back  in  some  cases  for  hundreds  if  not  thousands  of  years. 
To  trace  the  pedigree  of  such  breeds  is  probably  quite 
impossible,  although  the  investigations  of  archaeologists 
and  palaeontologists  are  most  important  in  proving  the 
extreme  antiquity  of  the  domestication  of  the  dog.  Ancient 
monuments  show  that  at  a  very  early  period  domesticated 
dogs  were  differentiated  into  two  very  distinct  breeds — 
namely,  those  which  hunt  by  scent  like  hounds,  and 
those  which,  like  greyhounds,  depend  upon  sight  in  the 
chase ;  and  when  once  these  were  established  further 
modifications  would  doubtless  have  soon  arisen  if  attention 
was  paid  to  breeding.  Many  of  these  breeds  and  strains 
were  doubtless  produced  by  crossing  those  derived  from 
different  wild  species,  by  which  means  all  trace  of  the 
original  ancestry  would  gradually  have  been  lost. 

In  the  Roman  period  not  only  were  sight-hounds  and 
scent-hounds  fully  differentiated,  but  there  were  also  various 
kinds  of  lap-dogs  and  house-dogs,  although  none  quite  like 
our  modern  breeds.  Even  as  far  back  as  about  3000  B.C. 
Egyptian  frescoes  show  not  only  greyhound-like  breeds, 
but  one  with  drooping  ears  like  a  hound,  and  a  third 
which  has  been  compared  to  the  modern  turnspit;  while 
house-dogs  and  lap-dogs  came  in  soon  afterwards.  Whether 
any  of  these  are  the  direct  ancestors  of  modern  breeds,  or 
whether  all  such  have  been  produced  by  subsequent  cross- 
ing, is  a  very  difficult  question  to  answer,  more  especially 
when  we  recollect  that  if  an  ancient  Egyptian  artist  had 


204  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

to  draw  the  portrait  of  a  modern  dog  it  would  be  very 
doubtful  whether  it  would  be  recognised  by  its  master  or 
mistress. 

But  the  record  of  the  antiquity  of  domesticated  dogs 
does  not  even  stop  with  the  earliest  known  Egyptian 
monuments.  Not  only  were  such  breeds  known  in  Europe 
during  the  Iron  and  Bronze  Ages,  but  also  during  the 
antecedent  Neolithic  or  polished  stone  period.  These  have 
been  described  by  the  late  Prof.  Riitimeyer  and  Dr. 
Woldrich;  and  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  diffi- 
culty of  distinguishing  between  some  of  the  living  species 
by  their  skulls  alone  will  understand  the  laborious  nature 
of  the  task.  Still,  these  authorities  appear  to  have  made 
out  that  the  Swiss  Neolithic  dog  (Cants  palustris)  had 
certain  cranial  resemblances  to  both  hounds  and  spaniels, 
and  thus  indicated  an  advanced  type,  which  is  considered 
to  have  been  derived  from  neither  wolves  nor  jackals,  but 
from  some  species  now  extinct.  Certain  other  breeds  have 
also  been  recognised  from  the  superficial  deposits  of  the 
Continent ;  and  if,  as  is  very  likely  to  be  the  case,  any 
or  all  of  these  races  are  the  forerunners  of  some  of  the 
modern  breeds,  it  will  readily  be  understood  how  complex 
is  the  origin  of  the  mixed  group  which  we  now  call  Cants 
familiaris.  Even  in  South  America  there  is  evidence  of  the 
great  antiquity  of  domesticated  dogs,  for  I  have  described 
a  skull  from  the  superficial  deposits  of  Buenos  Aires, 
which,  though  apparently  contemporaneous  with  many  of 
the  wonderful  extinct  mammals  of  the  Pampas,  yet  shows 
unmistakable  signs  of  affinity  with  domesticated  breeds, 
although  the  precise  relationship  has  not  yet  been  estab- 
lished. 

Perhaps,    however,    the   greatest  puzzle   in  the   group  is 
the   dingo,   or    native   dog   of  Australia,    which    has    been 


THE   PEDIGREE   OF  THE   DOG  205 

regarded  as  a  distinct  species,  under  the  name  of  Cam's 
dingo,  and  is  found  both  in  the  wild  condition  and  also 
in  a  semi-domesticated  state  among  the  natives.  In 
appearance  it  is  somewhat  like  a  rather  small  wolf,  with 
pointed  ears  and  a  bushy  tail ;  its  usual  colour  being 
rufous  tawny,  although  some  individuals  are  much  paler, 
and  others  so  much  darker  as  to  be  almost  black. 

As,  with  the  exception  of  numerous  peculiar  kinds  of 
rats  and  mice  and  a  few  bats,  Australia  is  populated  with 
marsupials  to  the  exclusion  of  ordinary  mammals,  it  was 
long  supposed  that  the  dingo,  which  appears  to  be  very 
closely  related  to  the  Indian  pariah  dog,  was  introduced  by 
man.  But  of  late  years  a  quantity  of  its  fossilised  remains 
have  been  dug  up  in  various  parts  of  Australia  in  association 
with  those  of  gigantic  kangaroos,  diprotodons,  and  other 
extinct  marsupials,  in  beds  where  there  appears  to  be  no 
evidence  of  the  presence  of  man.  And  it  has  consequently 
been  urged  that  the  dingo  is  as  truly  indigenous  to 
Australia  as  are  kangaroos  and  wombats.  There  is, 
however,  great  difficulty  in  accepting  this  view,  as  the 
rodents  might  have  obtained  an  entrance  by  being  carried 
on  floating  wood,  or  by  some  other  means  of  transport ; 
and  if  the  dingo  travelled  by  land  to  Australia,  other 
placental  mammals  ought  to  have  accompanied  it.  More- 
over, the  dingo  is  neither  a  wolf  nor  a  jackal,  but  in  all 
essential  characters  a  true  dog  of  the  domesticated  type, 
which  seems  scarcely  separable  from  Cam's  famzliaris.  We 
have,  therefore,  the  further  difficulty  of  determining,  if  it 
be  really  a  distinct  species,  from  what  Asiatic  form  it  took 
its  origin.  This  difficulty  is  enhanced  when  we  recollect 
that  throughout  the  Malay  countries  there  are  no  wild 
species  of  the  restricted  genus  Cam's  known,  the  so-called 
wild  dogs  of  Java  and  Sumatra  belonging,  as  already  said, 


206  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

to  Cyon.  It  is  true  that  Messrs.  Kohlbrugge  and  Jentink 
have  recently  described  a  dog  from  the  Tennger  Mountains 
in  Eastern  Java  under  the  name  of  Cants  familiaris  teng- 
gerana,  which  is  apparently  a  semi-domesticated  race  living 
in  a  partially  wild  condition.  When  more  is  known  about 
it,  and  its  resemblances  or  dissimilarities  to  the  dingo  are 
fully  indicated,  there  may  be  a  possibility  of  some  rays  of 
light  being  shed  upon  the  problem  of  the  introduction  of 
that  animal  into  the  Antipodes. 


TWO   FASHIONABLE   FURS 

To  those  who  are  of  an  observant  nature,  an  afternoon's 
stroll  through  any  of  the  fashionable  London  thoroughfares 
during  any  of  the  past  few  winters  must  have  revealed 
the  prevalence  of  a  fashion  for  the  beautiful  furs  respectively 
known  as  blue  fox  and  white  fox.  The  skins  of  these 
animals  are  either  worn  entire  as  boas  (or  "necklets/'  as 
I  am  told  they  are  called  by  ladies)  or  made  up  as  muffs, 
and  in  either  condition  are  strikingly  beautiful.  Blue  fox 
has  long  been  highly  esteemed  as  a  fur,  skins  selling  for 
between  ten  and  fourteen  guineas  ten  years  ago.  White 
fox,  on  the  other  hand,  has  only  during  the  last  few  years 
been  appreciated  as  its  beauty  deserves,  the  price  per  skin 
having  risen  from  between  half  a  crown  and  sixteen 
shillings  and  sixpence  during  1891  to  three  or  four 
guineas,  or  even  more,  during  recent  years. 

But  it  is  not  the  price  of  either  the  blue  or  the  white 
skins  I  propose  to  discuss  in  detail  in  the  present  article. 
The  circumstance  to  which  I  desire  to  draw  the  attention 
of  my  readers  is  the  very  remarkable  one  that  both  the 
blue  and  the  white  skins  belong  to  one  and  the  same  kind 
of  animal.  At  first  sight  this  may  seem,  perhaps,  a  fact 
of  no  special  interest  or  importance.  For,  as  we  all  know, 
certain  species  of  mammals,  such  as  the  stoat  or  ermine, 
the  mountain-hare,  and  the  lemming,  are  normally  white  in 
certain  parts  of  their  habitats  in  winter  and  dark-coloured  in 


208  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

summer.  Again,  many  mammals  vary  to  a  great  extent 
in  coloration  according  to  locality,  so  that  there  may  be 
dark-coloured  and  light-coloured  races  inhabiting  different 
localities.  The  most  striking  instance  of  this  is,  perhaps, 
the  big-horn  wild  sheep  of  North  America,  which  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  is  a  khaki-coloured  animal  with  a  white 
rump,  but  in  Alaska  is  nearly  pure  white  all  over  through- 
out the  year.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  American  naturalists 
prefer  to  regard  the  big-horns  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
Alaska  as  distinct  species  rather  than  local  races  of  a 
single  variable  animal,  but  for  our  present  purpose  such 
slight  differences  of  opinion  do  not  really  affect  the  case 
one  way  or  the  other. 

That  white  fox  and  blue  fox  skins  are  not  (as  was  once 
supposed  to  be  the  case  by  some  naturalists)  the  summer 
and  winter  coats  of  the  same  individual  animals  will  be 
apparent  by  a  comparison  of  furs  of  the  two  descriptions 
worn  by  our  lady  friends.  Both  descriptions  have  the 
same  long  thick  hair,  with  a  woolly  under-fur  at  the  base, 
and  are  evidently  the  winter  coats  of  the  animals  to  which 
they  respectively  belong.  Indeed,  with  all  long-haired 
animals  of  the  northern  parts  of  the  Old  World,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  Polar  bear,  it  is  the  winter  coat 
that  is  alone  valued  by  the  furrier. 

That  blue  and  white  foxes  are  not  local  races  of  the 
same  species  (or  distinct  species)  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  in  certain  districts  both  occur  together,  although  in 
other  localities  (as  in  Iceland,  where  all  the  foxes  are 
blue)  only  one  form  may  be  met  with.  It  is,  indeed, 
possible  that  in  some  cases  blue  and  white  cubs  may  appear 
in  the  same  litter.  For  instance,  Prof.  A.  S.  Packard,  in 
his  work  entitled  "  The  Labrador  Coast,"  states  he  was 
informed  by  a  native  "  that  the  white  and  blue  fox  littered 


TWO   FASHIONABLE   FURS  209 

together,  but  that  the  blue  variety  was  very  rare."  Again, 
in  answer  to  inquiries  on  this  subject,  Dr.  Einar  Lonnberg, 
of  Upsala,  whose  observations  are  based  on  personal  ex- 
perience, wrote  to  me  as  follows  : — 

"The  'blue'  foxes  are  uniformly  dark-coloured  summer 
and  winter,  and  do  not  change  to  white  at  any  time.  In 
the  summer  they  are  very  dark — dark  brown,  in  fact ;  in 
winter  they  are  also  dark,  but  more  bluish.  The  indi- 
viduals which  turn  white  in  winter  are  during  the  summer 
ashy  grey  on  the  upper-parts  and  limbs,  but  have  the  tail, 
under-parts,  more  or  less  of  the  flanks,  and  the  ears  and 
muzzle  white.  The  distribution  of  the  grey  and  white  is, 
however,  subject  to  individual  variation.  The  '  blue '  fox 
is,  in  fact,  merely  an  individual  variety  of  the  white  one. 
Both  breed  together,  and  sometimes  there  are  dark  and 
light  individuals  in  the  same  litter.  A  friend  of  mine 
observed  on  Bear  Island  a  pair  in  which  the  female  was 
white  and  the  male  blue.  In  Iceland  it  is  stated  that  all 
the  Arctic  foxes  are  blue." 

More  precise  information  is  required  on  the  subject  of 
their  interbreeding,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  blue  fox 
and  white  fox  of  the  furrier  are  only  individual  phases  of 
the  winter  coat  of  a  single  species  of  fox. 

Although  it  is  stated  that  white  specimens  are  occa- 
sionally met  with  in  summer,  the  white  phase  of  the  Arctic 
fox  (as  the  species  is  called)  normally  assumes  a  dark 
coat  in  summer.  The  difference  between  the  winter  and 
summer  coats  of  this  phase  of  the  species  is  well  illustrated 
by  a  couple  of  specimens  which  have  recently  been  placed 
in  the  central  hall  of  the  Natural  History  branch  of  the 
British  Museum.  In  the  case  containing  the  mountain- 
hare,  ptarmigan,  stoat,  and  weasel  in  their  white  winter 
dress  has  been  introduced  a  specimen  of  the  Arctic  fox  in 

14 


210  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  same  coat.  In  contrast  with  this,  the  case  in  which 
are  placed  the  above-mentioned  animals  in  their  dark 
summer  costume  contains  a  specimen  of  the  white  phase 
of  the  Arctic  fox  in  its  dark  summer  coat.  In  this  speci- 
men, the  hair  (which  is  much  shorter  than  that  of  the 
example  in  the  winter  dress)  is  dirty  rufous  brown  shading 
into  grey  on  the  upper-parts  and  outer  side  of  the  limbs, 
and  yellowish  white  below.  In  other  examples  the  colour 
of  the  upper-parts  is  greyer,  while  the  under-parts  are 
nearly  pure  white.  Sometimes  also,  it  is  stated  that  grey 
hairs  are  largely  mingled  with  the  white  winter  coat,  so 
that  we  have  a  more  or  less  marked  tendency  towards  the 
blue  phase  even  in  the  winter  dress.  In  all  cases  the 
muzzle  remains  black,  and  it  is  stated  that  there  may 
occasionally  be  a  black  tail-tip  in  the  white  winter  dress. 
I  have  not  seen  a  "  blue  fox "  in  the  summer  dress, 
but  am  told  that  the  coat  is  then  chiefly  distinguished 
from  its  winter  condition  by  its  much  shorter  hairs  and 
less  pure  blue  colour. 

Of  course,  the  so-called  "  blue  "  of  even  the  best  skins 
is  a  slaty  or  French  grey  rather  than  a  blue  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word,  and  in  many  instances  it  tends  to  drab 
or  dark  purplish.  Alaskan  blue  fox,  which  is  somewhat 
coarse  in  the  texture  of  the  fur,  has  this  purplish  or  sooty 
tinge  most  strongly  developed,  and  at  one  time  was 
specially  valued  on  this  account,  although  of  late  years 
the  lighter  varieties  seem  to  have  been  chiefly  in  demand. 

Lest  any  of  my  readers  should  be  led  to  think  that  the 
Arctic  fox  is  a  near  relative  of  the  common  species,  it 
may  be  well  to  state,  before  going  any  farther,  that  it  is 
a  very  distinct  animal  indeed.  Apart  from  its  coloration, 
the  most  distinctive  features  of  the  species  are  to  be 
found  in  its  short,  rounded  ears  (which  look  almost  as 


TWO   FASHIONABLE   FURS  211 

though  they  had  been  cropped),  moderately  sharp  muzzle, 
very  long  and  bushy  tail,  and  the  coat  of  hair  on  the 
soles  of  the  feet.  From  this  latter  feature  the  species 
takes  its  name  of  Cants  lagopus',  the  object  of  the  hairy 
soles  being,  of  course,  to  afford  the  animal  a  firm  foothold 
on  the  ice  and  frozen  snow  on  which  it  passes  so  much 
of  its  time.  In  having  two  distinct  colour-phases  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year,  which  may  be  met  with  in  the  same 
locality,  the  Arctic  fox  stands  practically  unique  among 
mammals.  It  is  true  that  black-maned  and  yellow-maned 
lions  may  be  occasionally  met  with  in  the  same  litter, 
while  black  leopards  and  black  jaguars  occur  now  and  then 
among  litters  of  cubs  of  the  ordinary  colour.  But  neither 
of  these  instances,  is  exactly  on  all  fours  with  the  case 
of  the  Arctic  fox.  With  regard  to  the  lion,  it  has  now 
been  ascertained  that  the  black-maned  and  tawny-maned 
specimens  belong,  in  most  cases  at  any  rate,  to  distinct 
local  races;  and  it  is  most  probable  that  when  light-  and 
dark-maned  cubs  are  met  with  in  the  same  litter,  it  is  due 
to  crossing  between  two  of  these  races.  Black  or  melanistic 
leopards  and  jaguars,  on  the  other  hand,  are  more  analogous 
to  albinoes,  and  generally  occur  in  hot  and  damp  climates. 
The  black  phase  of  the  common  water-vole,  found  high  up 
in  many  British  valleys,  is  an  instance  somewhat  analogous 
to  that  of  black  leopards,  being  apparently  due  to  climatic 
conditions,  and  therefore  not  strictly  comparable  with  the 
case  of  the  Arctic  fox. 

Many  invertebrate  animals  exhibit  two  or  more  distinct 
phases — generally  differing  to  a  certain  extent  from  each 
other  in  details  of  form  or  structure — and  to  such  the 
name  of  dimorphic  animals  is  technically  applied.  Natural- 
ists have  agreed  to  designate  the  Arctic  fox  by  the  same 
title,  although,  were  it  not  that  it  might  be  taken  to 


212  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

convey  an  altogether  different  meaning,  the  term  lt  dichroic  " 
would  be  more  appropriate,  seeing  that  the  difference 
between  the  two  phases  is  solely  one  of  colour,  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  shape  or  structure.  Using,  then,  the 
term  "  dimorphism  "  as  indicative  of  the  existence  in  one 
animal  of  two  distinct  colour-phases  totally  unconnected 
with  either  locality  or  season,  the  Arctic  fox  appears  to  be 
the  only  mammal  to  which  this  designation  can  be 
properly  applied. 

The  reason  for  this  remarkable  dimorphism  in  the  Arctic 
fox  is  hard  indeed  to  discover,  and  no  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  the  puzzle  appears  hitherto  to  have  been  offered. 
It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  reason  why 
Arctic  and  sub-Arctic  animals  turn  white  in  winter  is  that 
they  may  be  as  inconspicuous  as  possible  in  their  environ- 
ment of  snow  and  ice.  And  if  blue  foxes  were  met  with 
only  in  countries  where  snow  lies  but  a  short  time  in 
winter,  while  white  ones  occurred  solely  in  more  northern 
lands,  some  clue  to  the  puzzle  might  be  forthcoming.  But, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  is  not  the  case. 

The  distribution  of  the  Arctic  fox  is  circumpolar,  ex- 
tending in  the  New  World  about  as  far  south  as  latitude 
50° — that  is  to  say,  nearly  to  the  southern  extremity  of 
Hudson  Bay — and  in  the  Old  World  to  latitude  60°,  or, 
approximately,  to  the  latitude  of  Christiania  and  the  Shet- 
land Isles.  Northwards  the  species  extends  at  least  as  far 
as  Grinnell  Land. 

In  Iceland  all  the  Arctic  foxes  appear  to  belong  to  the 
blue  phase,  and  as  that  island  is  far  to  the  south  of  many 
portions  of  the  habitat  of  the  species,  it  might  be  thought 
that  this  is  the  reason  why  the  white  phase  is  unrepre- 
sented there.  But  that  island  is  far  north  of  the  line 
where  the  mountain-hare  and  the  stoat  begin  to  assume 


TWO   FASHIONABLE   FURS  213 

a  white  winter  livery  ;  and  if  it  is  essential  for  these  species 
that  they  should  assimilate  their  colour  to  that  of  their 
surroundings,  why  is  it  not  equally  so  in  the  case  of  the 
Arctic  fox  ? 

Again,  although,  as  already  mentioned,  blue  foxes  are 
rare  in  Labrador,  in  .Alaska  they  are  comparatively  common, 
and  the  same  is  the  case  in  Greenland,  whence  the  Royal 
Greenland  Company  imported  1,451  skins  to  Copenhagen  in 
1891.  And  if  it  be  essential  for  animals  to  turn  white  in 
winter  in  any  country  in  the  world,  it  is  surely  Alaska.  It 
is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  proportion  of  blue  to  white  foxes 
in  either  Alaska  or  the  Pribiloff  Islands,  but  it  is  certain 
that  in  both  localities  the  two  phases  are  found  together, 
living  apparently  under  precisely  the  same  physical  con- 
ditions. 

As  regards  the  islands  last  named,  Mr.  Elliot,  in  his 
work  on  "The  Seal  Islands  of  Alaska,"  writes  that  "blue 
and  white  foxes  are  found  on  the  Pribiloff  Islands,  and 
find  among  the  countless  chinks  and  crevices  in  the 
basaltic  formation  comfortable  holes  and  caverns  for  their 
accommodation  and  retreat,  feeding  upon  sick  and  pup 
seals,  as  well  as  water-fowl  and  eggs,  during  the  summer 
and  autumn,  and  living  through  the  winter  on  dead  seals 
left  on  the  rookeries  and  their  carcases  on  the  killing- 
grounds." 

This  account,  then,  fully  establishes  the  fact  that  blue 
and  white  foxes  occur  in  regions  where,  according  to  all 
accepted  rules,  there  ought  to  be  none  but  white  in- 
dividuals during  the  long  and  dreary  winter.  It  gives, 
however,  no  definite  clue  to  the  reason  for  the  strange 
association. 

There  is,  however,  a  description  of  the  habits  of  Arctic 
foxes  in  Grinnell  Land  given  by  Colonel  Fielden,  in  his 


214  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

"Voyage  to  the  Polar  Sea/'  which  may  possibly  throw 
some  light  on  the  subject,  although,  unfortunately,  it 
does  not  tell  us  whether  blue  as  well  as  white  foxes 
are  found  in  that  region.  After  referring  to  the  numbers 
of  lemmings  to  be  seen  looking  out  from  the  mouths  of 
their  holes,  or  feeding  in  the  vicinity,  the  author  proceeds 
as  follows  : — 

"  We  noticed  that  numerous  dead  lemmings  were  scat- 
tered around.  In  every  case  they  had  been  killed  in  the 
same  manner — the  sharp  canine  teeth  of  the  foxes  had 
penetrated  their  brain.  Presently  we  came  upon  two 
ermines  killed  in  the  same  manner.  .  .  .  Then,  to  our 
surprise,  we  discovered  numerous  deposits  of  dead  lem- 
mings ;  in  one  hidden  nook  under  a  rock  we  pulled  out 
a  heap  of  over  fifty.  We  disturbed  numerous  l  caches ' 
of  twenty  and  thirty,  and  the  earth  was  honeycombed  with 
holes,  each  of  which  contained  several  bodies  of  these 
little  animals,  a  small  quantity  of  earth  being  placed  over 
them.  In  one  hole  we  found  the  greater  part  of  a  hare 
hidden  away.  The  wings  of  young  brent-geese  were  also 
lying  about ;  and  as  these  birds  were  at  this  time  just 
hatching,  it  showed  that  they  must  be  the  results  of  suc- 
cessful forays  of  prior  seasons,  and  consequently  that  the 
foxes  occupy  the  same  abodes  from  year  to  year.  I  had 
long  wondered  how  the  Arctic  fox  exists  in  winter." 

Now,  it  will  be  evident  that  in  this  instance  the  foxes 
killed  the  prey  stored  up  for  winter  use  while  they  were 
in  the  dark  summer  coat.  And  since  in  winter,  when  the 
birds  have  left  and  the  lemmings  have  retired  to  the 
depths  of  their  burrows,  they  have  no  game  to  capture 
and  no  enemies  to  fear  save  Polar  bears  (which  would 
not  be  likely  to  do  them  much  harm),  it  would  appear 
to  be  a  matter  of  no  consequence  whether  their  coats  be 


TWO   FASHIONABLE   FURS  215 

dark  or  light.  Consequently,  it  seems  a  possible  explana- 
tion of  the  phenomenon  under  consideration  that  the  blue 
phase  of  the  Arctic  fox  indicates  a  reversion  to  the 
ancestral  coloration  of  the  species,  due  to  the  fact  that 
no  advantage  is  to  be  gained  by  the  assumption  of  a 
white  livery.  Such  reversion  might  well  take  place  only 
in  certain  individuals  of  a  species,  and  would  probably 
tend  to  become  more  or  less  completely  hereditary.  Before 
such  an  explanation  can,  however,  be  even  tentatively 
accepted,  it  is  necessary  to  ascertain  whether  the  blue 
Arctic  foxes  of  Iceland  are  in  the  habit  of  making  winter 
stores  of  provisions.  If  they  are  not,  but  hunt  their  prey 
in  winter,  the  theory  will  not  hold  good. 

For  animals  which  hunt  their  prey  in  winter,  or  are 
themselves  hunted,  it  would  seem  essential  that  they  should 
be  white  even  in  the  highest  latitudes,  where  the  long 
Polar  night  lasts  three-quarters  of  the  year,  since  in  the 
bright  starlight — to  say  nothing  of  moonlight — they  would, 
if  dark-coloured,  be  almost  as  conspicuous  on  the  snow 
as  in  daylight. 

As  regards  the  number  of  Arctic  fox  skins  which  find 
their  way  into  the  market,  Mr.  W.  Poland,  writing  ten  years 
ago,  states  that  from  twenty-five  thousand  to  sixty  thousand 
of  the  white  phase  were  then  annually  imported  from 
Siberia,  the  greater  number  of  these  coming  to  Leipsic. 
The  fur  of  these  is  of  a  rather  coarse  quality,  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  fine-haired  Greenland  skins.  In  1891  about 
nine  thousand  white  skins  were  imported  by  the  Hudson 
Bay  and  Alaska  Companies,  and  nearly  one  thousand  by 
the  Royal  Greenland  Company.  Of  blue  skins,  about 
two  thousand  were  annually  imported  into  London  by  the 
Alaska  Company,  and  some  five  hundred  to  Copenhagen 
by  the  Greenland  Company,  although  in  1891  the  number 


216  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  skins  sold  by  the  latter  body  reached  1,451.  It  is  note- 
worthy that- in  the  fur  trade  Greenland  blue  fox  skins  are 
well  known  to  be  of  the  same  fine-haired  quality  as  the 
white  skins  from  the  same  locality,  while  the  Alaskan  blue 
skins  are  equally  coarse-haired.  Consequently  there  is 
presumptive  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  Greenland  and 
an  Alaskan  race  of  the  species ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
American  naturalists  have  recently  split  up  the  Arctic  fox 
into  several  distinct  forms,  some  of  which  are  regarded  as 
species. 


THE   SEA-OTTER   AND  ITS  EXTERMINATION 

A  FEW  summers  ago  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  am 
acquainted  spent  his  holiday  in  shooting  and  fishing  on 
the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  and  in  the  course  of  his  trip 
procured  several  fine  otter-skins,  taken  in  some  of  the 
bays  of  that  picturesque  district.  As  these  otters  lived  in 
the  sea,  my  friend,  who  does  not  profess  to  be  a  naturalist, 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  sea-otters ;  and 
as  he  had  heard  of  the  value  attaching  to  the  pelts  of  the 
latter  animal,  was  not  a  little  elated  at  having  obtained 
such  spolia  opima  at  such  small  cost.  And  it  came  some- 
what as  a  shock  to  him  when  he  heard  that  otters  living 
in  the  sea  were  not  necessarily  sea-otters  in  the  zoological 
sense  of  the  term,  and  that  to  procure  specimens  of  the 
latter  he  would  have  to  journey  to  the  shores  of  the  islands 
and  continents  of  the  North  Pacific. 

Now  although  it  is  improbable  that  many  of  my  readers 
would  be  likely  to  confound  an  ordinary  otter  which  has 
taken  up  its  residence  on  the  coast  with  its  truly  marine 
cousin,  yet  before  entering  upon  the  consideration  of  the 
habits  and  impending  extermination  of  the  latter,  a  few 
words  relating  to  some  of  the  leading  points  of  distinction 
between  the  two  animals  will  scarcely  be  wasted. 

Ordinary  otters,  then  (of  which  there  are  numerous 
species,  ranging  over  nearly  all  the  habitable  parts  of  the 
globe  where  water  is  plentiful),  are  animals  nearly  allied 

217 


2i8  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

to  the  martens  and  weasels,  but  specially  modified  for  the 
needs  of  an  aquatic  life,  and  furnished  with  teeth  adapted 
to  seize  and  hold  the  slippery  prey  on  which  they  subsist. 
Since,  however,  they  are  much  less  exclusively  aquatic 
than  seals,  spending  much  of  their  time  on  shore,  their 
structural  variations  from  the  ordinary  mammalian  type 
are  far  less  marked  than  is  the  case  in  the  members  of 
the  latter  group.  The  toes,  for  instance,  are  not  webbed, 
and  neither  pair  of  limbs  shows  a  tendency  towards  a 
paddle-like  form,  although  both  are  relatively  short.  In 
addition  to  this  shortening  of  the  limbs,  the  points  chiefly 
noticeable  as  adaptations  for  swimming  are  the  great  breadth 
and  flatness  of  the  head,  the  small  size  of  the  ears,  the 
absence  of  a  distinctly  defined  neck,  the  elongated  and 
flattened  body,  moderately  long  and  powerful  tail,  and  the 
denseness  and  softness  of  the  fur.  As  regards  the  teeth, 
it  will  suffice  to  mention  that  while  these  conform  to  the 
general  marten  type,  the  hinder  ones  are  remarkable  for 
the  greater  extent  of  grinding  surface,  the  last  upper  molar 
especially  being  distinguished  by  the  peculiarly  squared 
form  of  its  crown.  In  all  these  teeth  the  cusps  are  re- 
markably strong  and  sharp,  and  thus  suited  for  piercing 
the  scales  of  fish. 

Contrast  these  features  with  those  distinctive  of  the  sea- 
otter — which,  by  the  way,  is  the  only  representative  of 
its  kind.  In  addition  to  its  being  a  shorter-  and  thicker- 
bodied  creature,  with  a  still  broader  muzzle  and  no 
definable  neck  at  all,  the  sea-otter  is  at  once  distinguished 
by  the  structure  of  its  hind-feet,  which  are  fully  webbed, 
and  so  lengthened  and  expanded  as  almost  to  simulate 
paddles  ;  the  extremities  of  the  toes  being,  it  is  said, 
turned  down  beneath  the  sole  when  on  land.  The  tail, 
too,  is  thicker,  less  tapering,  and  more  flattened  than  that 


THE   SEA-OTTER  AND   ITS   EXTERMINATION     219 

of  an  ordinary  otter.  The  skin  invests  the  body  as  loosely 
as  a  pillow-case  covers  a  pillow;  and  the  dark  brown  fur 
is  unrivalled  for  its  softness,  depth,  and  density.  But 
even  more  remarkable  is  the  difference  between  the  cheek- 
teeth of  the  two  animals.  In  place  of  the  sharply  cusped 
grinders  of  the  common  otter,  the  marine  species  has  the 
crowns  of  these  teeth  surmounted  by  smooth  ill-defined 
bosses,  separated  by  narrow  crack-like  lines  ;  the  one  type 
having  been  aptly  compared  to  freshly  chipped  flints,  and 
the  other  to  water-worn  pebbles.  Clearly  such  structural 
differences  must  be  correlated  with  a  totally  different 
description  of  diet,  and,  in  place  of  being  a  fish-eater, 
the  sea-otter  subsists  by  grinding  up  sea-urchins,  clams, 
mussels,  and  such-like,  shells  and  all. 

Had  we  living  animals  alone  to  guide  us,  there  might 
be  some  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  sea-otter  is  a  highly 
modified  offshoot  from  the  stock  of  the  ordinary  otter,  but 
the  evidence  of  extinct  forms  indicates  the  probability  of 
this  being  the  case.  Fossil  remains  of  true  otters  occur 
comparatively  low  down  in  the  series  of  rocks  belonging 
to  the  Tertiary  period  ;  and  somewhat  higher  in  the  scale 
are  found,  both  in  Europe  and  India,  those  of  an  extinct 
genus  (Enhydriodori],  in  which  the  cheek-teeth  are  to  a 
certain  extent  intermediate  between  the  types  respectively 
characteristic  of  the  ordinary  and  the  sea-otters.  These 
intermediate  extinct  otters  appear,  however,  to  have  been 
fresh-water  animals,  so  that  purely  marine  habits  would 
seem  to  have  been  acquired  only  with  the  advent  of  the 
modern  sea-otter. 

The  geographical  range  of  the  latter  on  the  American 
side  formerly  included  Alaska,  the  Aleutian  and  Pribiloff 
Islands,  Sitka,  and  Vancouver  Island,  and  thus  down 
the  coast  to  California;  while  on  the  opposite  shore  it 


220  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

embraced    Kamtchatka    and    the    Komandorksi    and    Kurile 
Islands. 

Numerous  accounts  of  the  habits  and  capture  of  this 
valuable  animal  have  been  published  as  the  results  of  the 
observations  of  naturalists  and  hunters  on  both  sides  of  its 
habitat,  many  of  these  relating  to  times  when  it  was  still 
more  or  less  abundant,  and  its  pelts  consequently  did  not 
realise  the  extravagant  prices  now  current.  The  attention 
recently  directed  to  the  fur-seals  of  Bering  Sea  has  resulted 
in  equally  important  observations  with  regard  to  the  sea- 
otters  of  the  same  region,  and  the  results  of  some  of  these 
are  recorded  in  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment of  the  Washington  Government,  drawn  up  by  the 
Commandant  of  the  Bering  Sea  Patrol  Fleet,  Captain 
C.  L.  Hooper.  As  in  the  case  of  the  fur-seals,  the  same 
sad  story  of  ruthless  destruction  and  relentless  persecution 
is  unfolded ;  and  while  the  animal  has  already  been  com- 
pletely swept  away  from  several  of  its  original  haunts, 
there  is  great  danger  of  its  complete  extermination  from 
this  side  of  the  Pacific  unless  adequate  means  for  its  pro- 
tection are  promptly  devised  and  effectually  carried  into 
execution. 

From  the  same  report  it  appears  that  when  the  Russians 
first  visited  Alaska  its  shores  literally  abounded  with  sea- 
otters,  which  were  relentlessly  hunted  and  slain,  affording 
a  rich  harvest  to  their  captors.  In  consequence  of  this, 
after  a  period  of  about  fifty  years — that  is  to  say,  towards 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century — a  notable  decrease 
in  numbers  was  observable ;  and  by  the  same  date  the 
otters,  which  were  said  to  have  swarmed  on  the  Pribiloffs 
at  the  time  of  their  discovery  in  1786,  had  almost  com- 
pletely disappeared  from  these  islands.  From  the  close  of 
he  eighteenth  century  till  the  taking  over  of  the  country 


THE   SEA-OTTER   AND   ITS   EXTERMINATION     221 

by  the  United  States,  the  Russian-American  Company  had 
the  practical  control  of  the  Alaskan  territory,  and  formu- 
lated regulations  for  otter-hunting,  by  which  the  total 
catch  was  limited  and  a  restriction  placed  upon  the  number 
captured  by  individual  natives. 

In  the  earlier  days  the  sea-otters  were  in  the  habit  of 
coming  ashore,  both  to  feed  on  the  sea-urchins  and  shell- 
fish thrown  up  by  the  tide,  and  also  for  the  purposes  of 
repose  and  breeding.  The  otters  were  either  captured  in 
nets  or  killed  by  means  of  spears  or  clubs.  Only  males 
were,  however,  then  slaughtered  ;  the  hunters  being  taught 
to  distinguish  the  females,  even  when  in  the  water,  by  the 
difference  in  the  colour  and  shape  of  the  head  and  neck. 
And  when  hunting  on  shore  the  utmost  care  was  taken  to 
prevent  disturbing  the  animals  more  than  necessary,  and 
also  to  leave  as  few  traces  as  possible  of  human  presence. 

Notwithstanding  these  regulations,  the  sea-otters  con- 
tinued to  diminish  in  number;  and,  in  addition  to  the 
Pribiloffs,  had  already  disappeared  from  certain  districts 
at  the  date  of  the  transference  of  Alaska  to  America. 
After  this  date,  although  the  hunters  for  several  years 
adhered  to  some  extent  to  the  old  rules,  the  destruction 
became  much  more  rapid,  and  all  precautions  for  the 
preservation  of  the  breed  were  ignored.  Numerous  cod- 
fisheries  were  established  on  some  of  the  banks  ;  and  the 
people  thus  collected,  together  with  the  refuse  left  on  the 
shore,  rendered  many  districts  unsuitable  to  the  otter. 
Moreover,  there  were  no  regulations  to  prevent  white 
men  from  killing  as  many  animals  as  they  pleased;  and 
as  the  sea-otter  was  by  far  the  most  valuable  inhabitant 
of  the  shores,  it  naturally  came  in  for  the  largest  share 
of  attention. 

Harassed  on  all   sides — netted  in    the   sea,  clubbed   and 


222  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

shot  on  shore,  its  landing-grounds  rendered  uninhabitable  by 
human  presence  as  well  as  by  the  refuse  of  the  fisheries 
and  the  decaying  bodies  of  its  own  companions — the  sea- 
otter,  as  might  have  been  expected,  has  totally  changed 
its  original  mode  of  life.  Instead  of  hauling  out  on  shore 
to  feed,  repose,  and  breed,  it  now  sleeps  and  breeds  on 
floating  masses  of  seaweed,  while  its  feeding-grounds  are 
banks  in  some  thirty  fathoms  of  water.  But  even  in  these 
situations  the  unfortunate  animals  enjoy  no  peace,  but  are 
hunted  and  harassed  by  fleets  of  schooners  from  March 
till  August.  From  many  of  its  old  habitats  it  has  more 
or  less  completely  disappeared,  all  the  grounds  to  the 
west  of  Unimak  Pass  being  practically  deserted.  On  a 
few  of  the  banks,  indeed,  a  stray  otter  may  now  and  then 
be  captured  at  long  intervals,  but  on  others  not  a  single 
head  has  been  observed  for  the  last  ten  years  or  so.  At 
the  present  day  most  of  the  otters  captured  in  the  Aleutians 
are  taken  on  the  banks  lying  to  the  south-west  of  Kadiak. 
These  banks  are  bounded  on  the  north-west  by  the  Alaska 
peninsula,  on  the  north-east  by  Kadiak  Island,  to  the 
south-east  by  the  Trinity  Islands,  and  to  the  south-west 
by  the  Semedi  Islands. 

Between  the  years  1873  and  1883  inclusive,  the  approxi- 
mate number  of  sea-otters  annually  captured  by  the 
natives  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  varied  between  2,500  and 
4,000.  The  latter  number  was  exceeded  in  1885,  but  from 
that  year  there  has  been  a  rapid  decrease,  as  is  shown  by 
the  following  figures — viz.,  1886,3,604;  1887,3,095;  1888, 
2,496;  1889,  1,795;  1890,  1,633;  1891,  1,436;  1892,  820; 
1893,  686;  1894,  598;  1895,  887;  1896,  724. 

This  very  heavy  numerical  decrease  has  been  accom- 
panied by  an  equally  marked  rise  in  the  price  of  the 
skins.  In  1888  the  average  price  per  skin  was  £21  lOs., 


THE   SEA-OTTER   AND   ITS   EXTERMINATION     223 

in  1889  ifc  nad  increased  to  £33,  and  in  1891  to  £57,  since 
which  date  the  price  has  again  risen.  For  specially  fine 
skins  £88  was  considered  a  record  price  some  years  ago, 
but  now  .£100  is  by  no  means  uncommon,  and  £200,  and 
even  £225,  have  been  paid  for  unusually  splendid  specimens. 

As  regards  the  methods  of  capture,  clubbing  and  spearing 
are  probably  the  least  wasteful,  few,  if  any,  of  the  animals 
thus  killed  being  lost.  The  gun  is  less  satisfactory,  as 
many  wounded  animals  escape  to  die  a  lingering  death. 
But  the  most  wasteful  of  all  is  the  net.  Unless  the  animals 
be  removed  from  the  net  within  a  few  hours  after  death 
their  skins  are  irretrievably  ruined  by  the  attacks  of  the 
myriads  of  minute  crustaceans  which  swarm  in  the  Arctic 
seas.  Netting  can  be  effected  only  in  stormy  weather,  the 
nets  being  stretched  from  the  shore  to  some  convenient 
rocks ;  and  frequently  it  is  impossible  to  visit  them  for 
days  together,  when  such  captures  as  they  may  contain 
are  valueless. 

But  the  great  diminution  in  the  numbers  of  the  sea-otter, 
although  bad  enough,  is  by  no  means  the  most  serious 
element  in  the  matter.  Ever  since  the  Russians  took 
possession,  hunting  the  sea-otter  has  afforded  the  chief 
means  of  livelihood  to  the  Aleutian  islanders.  On  this 
point  Captain  Hooper  writes  as  follows :  "  The  decrease 
in  the  yearly  catch  has  already  brought  some  of  the  settle- 
ments to  the  verge  of  want,  and  if  they  are  allowed  to 
become  exterminated,  actual  suffering  and  even  starvation 
can  only  be  averted  by  Government  aid.  Properly  pro- 
tected and  reserved  exclusively  for  the  use  of  the  natives, 
the  otter,  while  it  can  probably  never  be  brought  up  to 
its  former  numbers,  can  be  preserved  from  extermination, 
and  will  furnish  a  means  of  subsistence  for  these  people 
for  many  years." 


224  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Although  there  is  some  little  doubt  in  the  matter,  it 
appears  probable  that  the  whole  of  the  present  haunts  of 
the  sea-otter  are  within  the  territory  of  the  American 
Government,  and  if  this  be  the  case  there  will  be  no  need 
for  an  international  agreement.  Captain  Hooper  has  com- 
piled a  code  of  regulations  for  provisional  acceptance  by  the 
Government,  and  as  these  appear  in  every  way  admirably 
suited  to  effect  the  object  for  which  they  were  drawn,  it 
must  be  the  earnest  hope  of  every  naturalist  that  they  will 
be  sanctioned  and  put  into  operation  with  the  least  possible 
delay. 


A   GIANT   AMONG   SEALS 

FEW  generalisations  have  taken  a  firmer  hold  of  the 
popular  imagination  than  the  notion  that  the  animals  of 
to-day  bear  no  sort  of  comparison  with  their  predecessors 
of  the  past  in  respect  of  bodily  size,  and  that,  so  far  as 
the  giants  of  the  animal  kingdom  are  concerned,  we  are 
living  in  a  dwarfed  .and  impoverished  world.  Like  most 
popular  conceptions,  this  idea  contains  a  considerable 
element  of  truth  mingled  with  a  large  amount  of  mis- 
conception. In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  accurate  defi- 
nition of  what  is  meant  by  "  the  past."  If  it  mean  only 
those  epochs  of  the  earth's  history  previous  to  the  advent 
of  man,  it  is  unquestionably  inaccurate.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  also  embrace  the  prehistoric  portion  of  man's 
sojourn  on  the  globe,  it  has  scarcely  a  claim  to  be  regarded 
as  a  fair  or  accurate  statement  of  the  true  state  of  the 
case,  seeing  that  the  extermination  of  a  very  considerable 
percentage  of  the  large  animals  of  the  epoch  in  question 
has  been  the  work  of  man  himself— a  work,  unhappily, 
which  is  still  proceeding  apace. 

But,  in  addition  to  this,  the  animals  of  one  geological 
epoch  are  very  frequently  confounded  with  those  of  another, 
so  that  dinosaurs  and  mosasaurs,  ichthyosaurs  and  plesio- 
saurs,  mastodons  and  mammoths,  and  glyptodons  and 
ground-sloths  are  often  spoken  of  as  if  contemporaries  and 
inhabitants  of  the  same  country. 

225  15 


226  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

If  such  were  really  the  case,  we  should  indeed  be  living 
in  an  impoverished  epoch  of  the  world's  history ;  but  if 
we  take  the  term  "present"  in  not  too  narrow  a  sense, 
and  also  bear  in  mind  that  Europe,  and  such  other  parts 
of  the  world  as  have  been  more  or  less  thickly  populated 
for  untold  ages,  scarcely  form  a  fair  basis  of  comparison, 
it  will  be  manifest  that  the  idea  in  question  is  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  due  to  misconceptions  and  inaccuracies  of 
the  nature  of  those  referred  to  above. 

It  is  true  that  in  certain  portions  of  the  world  the 
larger  forms  of  animal  life  disappeared  at  an  epoch  when 
man  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  having  taken  a  promi- 
nent part  in  their  extermination ;  a  notable  example  of  this 
kind  being  South  America,  where  the  huge  ground-sloths, 
toxodons,  and  macrauchenias  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
Tertiary  epoch  disappeared  with  seeming  suddenness  in 
what  is  to  us  an  unaccountable  manner.  The  extermi- 
nation of  the  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros,  and  the 
hippopotamus  from  Europe,  although  partly,  perhaps, 
attributable  to  climatic  change,  has  not  improbably  been 
accelerated  by  man's  influence;  and  the  same  may  be  true 
with  regard  to  some  of  the  larger  mammals  of  ancient 
India. 

In  the  latter  country  we  have,  however,  still  the  Indian 
elephant,  the  great  one-horned  rhinoceros,  and  the  wild 
buffalo,  which,  although  not  actually  the  largest  repre- 
sentatives of  their  kind,  are  yet  enormous  animals.  In 
Africa  the  presence  of  animals  of  large  corporeal  bulk  is 
more  noticeable.  Although  the  extinct  elephant  of  the 
Norfolk  "  forest-bed "  is  stated  to  have  been  the  biggest 
of  its  tribe,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  it  was  really  larger 
than  the  living  African  elephant;  and  the  so-called  white 
rhinoceros,  in  the  days  of  its  abundance,  was  certainly  not 


A   GIANT   AMONG   SEALS  227 

inferior  in  point  of  size  to  any  of  its  extinct  relatives. 
The  giraffe,  again,  which  in  the  Mount  Elgon  district  is 
stated  to  tower  to  twenty  feet,  is  much  taller  than  any  extinct 
quadruped  yet  known  to  us ;  and  the  hippopotamus  falls 
but  little  short  of  its  ancestors  of  the  Pleistocene  epoch. 
The  elands,  again,  are  by  far  the  largest  of  antelopes 
known  at  any  period  of  the  earth's  history;  and  the 
ostrich,  although  not  comparable  with  some  of  the  New 
Zealand  moas  (which,  by  the  way,  were  probably  exter- 
minated only  a  few  centuries  ago  by  the  Maoris),  is  yet 
the  largest  member  of  its  own  particular  group.  Again, 
no  fossil  ape  is  known  which  is  anywhere  in  the  running 
as  compared  with  a  full-grown  male  gorilla.  It  is,  more- 
over, probable,  despite  the  old-world  legends  of  giants, 
that  man  at  the  present  day  is,  on  the  whole,  a  taller  and 
finer  animal  than  he  ever  was  before. 

Of  course,  there  are  certain  cases  where  the  animals  of 
to-day  cannot  compare  with  some  of  their  predecessors, 
and  a  case  in  point  is  afforded  by  the  extinct  atlas  tor- 
toise of  Northern  India,  which  (although  its  size  has 
been  vastly  exaggerated)  far  exceeded  in  bulk  its  living 
cousins  of  the  Galapagos  and  Mascarenes.  This,  however, 
may  perhaps  be  accounted  for  by  the  larger  area  of  its 
habitat. 

Among  the  inhabitants  of  the  ocean  we  shall  find  even 
more  striking  testimony  as  to  the  large  bodily  size  (either 
absolute  or  relative)  attained  by  many  animals  of  the 
present  day.  Probably  no  mollusc  was  ever  larger  than 
the  giant  clam,  whose  valves  measure  a  yard  or  more  in 
length ;  and  we  have  no  evidence  that  the  enormous  cuttles 
and  squids  forming  the  food  of  the  sperm-whale  were 
ever  rivalled  in  size  during  past  epochs.  The  huge  long- 
limbed  crab  of  the  Japanese  seas,  and  the  cocoanut  crab 


228  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

(which  is  but  a  marine  creature  that  has  taken  to  a  ter- 
restrial existence)  of  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  are 
likewise  probably  the  giants  of  their  kind.  At  no  epoch 
of  the  earth's  history  have  we  any  record  of  an  animal 
approaching  in  size  the  blue  rorqual,  with  its  length  of 
between  eighty  and  ninety  feet,  and  its  weight  of,  probably, 
at  least  as  many  tons.  The  sperm-whale  and  the  Green- 
land right-whale  were,  at  the  time  of  their  abundance, 
certainly  the  largest  of  their  respective  kinds ;  while  the 
basking-shark  has  probably  been  unequalled  in  bulk  by 
any  of  its  predecessors.  The  great  white  shark  of  the 
present  day  is  indeed  considerably  inferior  in  size  to  its 
cousins  whose  teeth  now  strew  the  floor  of  the  Pacific  ; 
but  these  latter  lived  at  no  very  distant  period,  and  may 
possibly  still  survive.  Walruses  were  never  larger  than 
they  are  at  the  present  day,  and  the  dugongs  and  manatis 
of  the  seas  of  our  own  days  were  fully  as  large  as  any 
of  their  ancestors  of  which  we  have  ken ;  while  the  north- 
ern sea-cow  of  Bering  Sea — exterminated  only  a  century 
and  a  half  ago — was  in  this  respect  far  ahead  of  all  other 
competitors. 

The  same  is  true  with  regard  to  the  animal  forming 
the  subject  of  the  present  article — the  sea-elephant,  or, 
better,  the  elephant-seal — which  so  vastly  exceeds  in  size 
all  other  members  of  its  tribe,  that  even  the  largest  sea- 
lions  and  walruses,  when  placed  alongside  its  huge  bulk, 
look  dwarfs  by  comparison.  But  it  is  not  only  from  its 
vast  size  that  this  seal  is  of  more  than  ordinary  interest, 
since  it  is  remarkable  for  many  peculiarities  in  structure 
and  habits,  approaching  the  eared  seals  (or  sea-lions  and 
sea-bears)  more  closely  than  is  the  case  with  any  other  of 
the  true  or  earless  seals.  It  has  also,  unhappily,  an  interest 
attaching  to  it  on  account  of  its  impending  extermination. 


A   GIANT   AMONG   SEALS  229 

Elephant-seals  frequent  the  shores  of  many  of  the 
islands  of  the  South  Seas,  where  they  spend  a  long  time 
on  land  during  the  breeding  season,  and  also  occurred 
formerly  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  North  America  from  Cape 
Lazaro  to  Point  Reyes,  California,  where  they  are  now 
practically  extinct.  As  these  Californian  elephant-seals 
were  completely  isolated  from  those  inhabiting  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  they  are  regarded  by  American  naturalists  as 
constituting  a  species  by  themselves ;  but  since  their 
distinction  from  the  typical  southern  form  is  but  slight,  it 
seems  preferable  to  look  upon  them  in  the  light  of  an 
isolated  local  race.  These  seals  never  appear  to  wander 
south  to  the  Antarctic  pack-ice. 

Our  first  definite,  if  not  actual,  knowledge  of  the  elephant- 
seal  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  a  specimen  brought 
to  England  by  Lord  Anson  in  1744  from  the  island  of 
Juan  Fernandez,  and  the  figure  and  account  given  in  the 
"  Voyage  Round  the  World "  of  that  great  commander, 
where  the  species  is  called  "sea-lyon."  Lord  Anson 
seems  to  have  obtained  a  male  and  female  specimen 
("  lyon "  and  "  lyoness "  he  calls  them),  the  former  ot 
which  was  stuffed  and  exhibited  in  the  British  Museum. 
What  its  dimensions  were  is  now  unknown — a  somewhat 
unfortunate  matter,  since  it  was  probably  a  full-grown 
adult  male  of  larger  size  than  any,  or  the  majority,  of 
those  to  be  met  with  at  the  present  day.  After  being 
exposed  in  the  Museum  galleries  for  considerably  more 
than  half  a  century,  probably  without  any  protection 
from  dust  and  the  still  more  mischievous  hands  of 
visitors  (who  then,  as  now,  doubtless  displayed  an  irre- 
sistible impulse  to  handle  every  accessible  object),  the 
specimen  must  certainly  have  shown  marked  signs  of 
wear  and  tear.  Anyway,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  fact 


230  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

that  the  jaws  and  teeth,  which  had  been  mounted  in 
the  skin,  were  sold  by  the  Museum  to  the  Royal  College 
of  Surgeons  in  1809,  the  specimen  appears  to  have  been 
destroyed  early  in  the  last  century.  The  aforesaid  jaws 
and  teeth  are  still  preserved  in  the  museum  of  the  College 
of  Surgeons. 

Although  many  years  later  a  female  skin,  presented  by 
the  Admiralty,  was  mounted  and  exhibited,  from  the  date 
of  the  destruction  of  Lord  Anson's  specimen  the  British 
Museum  till  quite  recently  had  no  example  of  either  skin 
or  skeleton  of  an  adult  male  of  this  giant  seal  to  show 
the  public.  The  deficiency  has  been  made  good  by  the 
generosity  of  Mr.  Walter  Rothschild,  and  the  mounted 
skin  and  skeleton  of  two  nearly  adult  males  are  now 
exhibited  in  the  same  case.  Unfortunately  the  taxidermist 
has  not  been  as  successful  as  he  might  have  been  in  the 
mounting  of  the  skin ;  but  nevertheless  the  specimens 
suffice  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  huge  bulk  of 
the  creature  and  the  leading  peculiarities  of  its  form. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Anson's  figure  and 
description  afforded  to  Linnaeus  his  only  knowledge  of  the 
species,  and  upon  this  evidence  was  established  his  Phoca 
leom'na,  the  specific  title  being  the  equivalent  of  Anson's 
"sea-lyon."  As  the  real  sea-lions  are  totally  different 
animals — eared  seals,  in  fact — it  is  a  great  pity  that  this 
name  was  ever  given,  but,  as  being  the  earliest,  it  has  to 
stand,  and  cannot  be  replaced,  as  proposed  by  some  writers, 
by  the  more  appropriate  elephantina.  As  the  elephant- 
seal  differs  very  widely  from  the  common  seal  and  its 
immediate  relatives,  it  could  not,  of  course,  with  the  advance 
of  zoological  science,  be  suffered  to  remain  in  the  same 
genus,  and  it  accordingly  now  typifies  a  group  by  itself 
under  the  name  of  Macrorhinus  leoninus. 


A   GIANT   AMONG   SEALS  231 

The  generic  title  Macrorhinus  refers  to  the  most  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  the  species,  the  peculiar  trunk-like  form 
of  the  muzzle  of  the  old  males.  Not  only  do  the  male 
and  female  elephant-seal  differ  in  regard  to  the  form  of 
the  muzzle  (the  trunk  being  undeveloped  in  the  last-named 
sex),  but  there  is  also  a  vast  inferiority  in  the  size  of  the 
latter  as  compared  with  the  former.  So  marked,  indeed, 
is  this  discrepancy,  that  an  early  observer  is  stated  in 
Weddell's  "  Voyage  "  to  have  mistaken  the  two  sexes  for 
mother  and  young. 

From  the  testimony  of  old  "beach-combers"  and  others 
who  have  hunted  them  in  their  native  haunts,  it  seems 
evident  that  the  dimensions  now  attained  by  sea-elephants 
fall  far  short  of  those  reached  in  the  old  days,  when  they 
abounded  on  the  islands  of  the  South  Seas,  and  were 
permitted  to  grow  to  their  full  size.  In  the  majority  of 
text-books  twenty  feet  is  given  as  the  length  of  the  species  ; 
but  it  is  definitely  known  that  specimens  at  the  present 
day  frequently  reach  or  exceed  this  length,  and  as  none 
of  these  (as  exemplified  by  the  condition  of  the  bones  in 
the  British  Museum  and  other  skeletons  received  of  late 
years  in  England)  appear  to  be  fully  adult,  it  seems  well- 
nigh  certain  that  old  bulls  must  have  grown  to  much 
greater  size.  Probably  twenty-five  feet  would  not  be  an 
undue  estimate  for  the  length  of  an  adult  male,  and  it  is 
far  from  improbable  that  close  upon  thirty  feet  may  have 
been  reached  in  some  cases. 

Among  the  favourite  haunts  of  the  elephant-seal  were 
the  islands  of  the  Crozet  group,  Kerguelen,  and  St.  Paul, 
in  the  Indian  Ocean,  as  well  as  Heard  Island.  In  the 
South  Atlantic  these  monsters  formerly  abounded  on 
Tristan-da-Cunha,  and  nearer  the  American  coast  they  are 
again  met  with  farther  south  on  the  Falklands,  South 


232  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Georgia,  and  the  South  Shetlands.  On  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Pacific  they  occur,  as  recorded  by  Lord  Anson,  on 
Juan  Fernandez,  and  thence  by  way  of  the  Marquesas  to 
the  Macquarie  and  other  islands  south  of  New  Zealand, 
where  the  British  Museum  specimens  were  obtained.  They 
were  likewise  common  on  the  coasts  of  Tierra  del  Fuego 
and  Southern  Patagonia ;  and  the  occurrence  of  the  isolated 
colony  north  of  the  equator  in  California  has  been  already 
mentioned. 

The  trunk-like  muzzle  of  the  old  bull  sea-elephant,  like 
the  sac  on  the  crown  of  the  head  of  its  relative  the  bladder- 
seal,  is  capable  of  inflation  during  periods  of  excitement, 
but  at  other  times  is  small  and  relatively  inconspicuous. 
Probably  it  is  only  when  the  animals  are  on  shore,  and 
more  especially  during  the  breeding  season,  that  the  trunk 
is  inflated  to  its  full  extent.  The  sketch  in  Lord  Anson's 
"Voyage,"  although  true  to  nature  in  some  respects,  is  in 
many  ways  a  caricature,  and  it  is  only  of  late  years  that 
photographs  have  been  obtained  showing  the  true  form  of 
the  animal.  From  these  it  appears  that  when  on  land  the 
old  bulls  are  in  the  habit  of  supporting  the  fore-part  of 
the  body  on  the  front  flippers  and  raising  the  neck  and 
head  into  a  nearly  vertical  posture,  so  that  the  latter  is 
fully  six  feet  above  the  ground.  When  the  trunk  is 
inflated  to  its  fullest  extent,  the  mouth  is  opened,  and  the 
animal  emits  a  succession  of  terrific  roars,  which  may  be 
heard  for  miles. 

In  using  its  front  flippers  as  a  means  of  support  to  this 
extent,  the  elephant-seal  is  quite  unlike  the  rest  of  the 
earless  seals,  and  resembles  the  sea-lions  and  sea-bears. 
It  also  agrees  with  the  latter  group  in  the  great  superiority 
of  the  males  to  the  females  in  point  of  bodily  size.  A 
third  point  of  resemblance  between  elephant-seals  and 


A  GIANT  AMONG  SEALS  233 

eared  seals  is  shown  by  their  breeding  habits,  which  are 
in  many  respects  similar.  On  the  Crozet  Islands,  for 
example,  -where  they  arrive  about  the  middle  of  August, 
the  old  bulls  secure  a  station  for  themselves.  They  do 
not,  however,  pass  any  long  period  without  taking  food, 
neither  do  they  collect  "  harems "  for  themselves  after  the 
manner  of  the  sea-bears  and  sea-lions ;  the  females  selecting 
a  station  for  themselves  some  distance  away.  Soon  after 
landing  the  females  give  birth  to  their  young,  which  are  at 
first  black,  and,  although  there  is  some  discrepancy  between 
different  accounts,  it  seems  probable  that  both  sexes  remain 
with  their  offspring  till  the  latter  are  ready  to  enter  the 
sea,  which  they  usually  do  when  about  six  or  seven  weeks 
old.  When  they  have  once  taken  to  a  maritime  life,  the 
young  sea-elephants  are  said  to  grow  at  a  prodigious  rate  ; 
and,  indeed,  unless  they  take  many  years  to  attain  full 
maturity,  this  must  necessarily  be  the  case. 

As  just  indicated,  the  few  accounts  that  have  been  given 
of  the  breeding  habits  of  these  seals  by  no  means  accord 
with  one  another,  and  this  is  the  more  to  be  regretted 
since,  owing  to  the  comparative  scarcity  of  the  species  at 
the  present  day,  it  is  very  unlikely  that  an  authentic 
history  will  ever  be  given  to  the  world. 

The  extermination  of  this  giant  seal,  so  far  as  it  has  as 
yet  gone,  is  a  sad  story,  accompanied  as  it  is  by  details  of 
revolting  and  fiendish  cruelty.  In  the  eighteenth  and  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  these  seals  were  met 
with  in  thousands  on  most  of  their  island  haunts  as  well 
as  on  the  shores  of  Patagonia,  but  the  ease  with  which 
they  could  be  killed,  and  the  value  of  their  hides  and  oil, 
soon  led  to  a  vast  reduction  in  their  numbers ;  and  in 
many  of  their  old  breeding-places,  such  as  the  Falklands, 
they  are  either  very  scarce  or  are  altogether  exterminated. 


234  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

On  Heard  Island  they  still  survive  in  considerable  numbers, 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  gaining  access  to  their  favourite 
breeding-ground,  to  reach  which  from  the  shore  two 
glaciers  have  to  be  crossed.  The  difficulty  of  removing 
the  oil  and  hides  from  such  a  locality  has,  however,  been 
to  a  considerable  extent  overcome  by  driving  the  seals  to 
sea  during  stormy  weather,  when  they  are  compelled  to 
seek  an  easier  landing-place.  In  the  Macquarie  Islands 
elephant-seals  appear  to  be  still  found  in  considerable 
numbers,  but  the  difficulty,  or  impossibility,  of  obtaining  a 
fully  adult  male  tells  its  own  tale  as  to  the  persecution  to 
which  the  species  is  subject ;  and  it  is  only  too  palpable 
that  long  before  the  middle  of  the  present  century  elephant- 
sealing  will  have  been  abandoned  as  an  unprofitable  trade. 
But  by  that  time  we  shall  really  be  living  in  an  impoverished 
world,  so  far  as  large  animals  are  concerned. 


THE  FLYING-SQUIRRELS  OF  ASIA  AND 
AFRICA 

DESPITE  the  repetition  of  the  statement  as  to  their  essential 
structural  difference  in  almost  every  work  on  popular  natural 
history  issued  to  the  public,  few  persons,  save  those  who 
have  made  anatomy  a  special  study,  can  be  induced  to 
believe  that  swallows  and  swifts  are  not  closely  allied 
birds.  And  it  may  be  presumed  that  an  equal  degree  of 
incredulity  will  prevail  in  the  minds  of  most  people  when 
they  are  told  that  the  two  animals  whose  portraits  are 
given  in  the  plates  accompanying  have  no  sort  of  intimate 
relationship,  being  in  fact  much  more  widely  sundered  from 
one  another  than  are  such  apparently  dissimilar  creatures 
as  a  squirrel  and  a  beaver.  An  instance  of  this  incredulity 
has  indeed  been  actually  published  with  regard  to  the 
figured  species  of  the  so-called  African  flying-squirrels,  or, 
as  they  might  be  better  termed,  scale-tailed  squirrels.  Now 
this  particular  species  of  the  group  was  sent  home  from 
Central  Africa  by  Emin  Pasha  in  the  'eighties,  and  described 
and  figured  under  the  name  of  Anomalurus  pusillus  by  Mr. 
Thomas,  of  the  British  Museum,  in  1887  and  1888.  Three 
years  later  the  figure  (the  one  here  reproduced)  appeared 
in  Major  Casati's  "  Ten  Years  in  Equatoria,"  with  the 
following  remarks  : — 

"  The  flying  squirrel  (Mbomd]  lives  in  the  forests,  almost 
always  upon  the  branches  of  the  trees,  whence  it  throws 

235 


236  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

itself,  expanding  the  membrane  which  joins  the  feet  to  the 
body,  like  a  parachute.  The  skin  is  used  as  an  ornament. 
I  think  it  is  identical  with  one  very  common  in  the  island 
of  Ceylon,  which  is  almost  tame." 

The  extraordinary  misconception  as  to  the  affinities  of 
the  creature  displayed  in  the  last  sentence  of  this  quotation 
will  be  apparent  when  I  say  that  the  scale-tailed  squirrels 
— whether  furnished  with  a  flying  t  membrane  or  not — are 
absolutely  restricted  to  Africa,  where  not  a  single  repre- 
sentative of  the  true  flying-squirrels  of  Asia  and  Europe 
exists. 

The  reason  why  these  two  very  dissimilar  groups  of 
animals  are  regarded  in  popular  estimation  as  near  relatives 
is,  of  course,  due  to  the  fact  that  both  are  furnished  with 
expansions  of  skin  by  means  of  which  they  are  enabled 
to  take  flying  leaps  from  bough  to  bough.  Such  flying 
membranes  are  developed  in  very  few  mammals,  and  the 
popular  idea  is  that  the  presence  of  such  a  membrane  must 
necessarily  imply  intimate  affinity  between  all  the  forms  in 
which  it  occurs.  Hence  not  only  are  the  African  flying 
scale-tailed  squirrels  associated  with  the  typical  flying- 
squirrels,  but  the  still  more  widely  separated  flying-phalangers 
of  Australasia  are  likewise  regarded  as  members  of  the  same 
group. 

In  making  such  associations  the  public  fail  to  recognise 
that  similar  structures  may  be  produced  in  totally  different 
groups  of  animals  owing  to  their  living  under  similar  special 
conditions,  or  having  peculiar  habits  of  the  same  nature.  In 
external  appearance  rodents  belonging  to  different  families, 
such  as  squirrels  and  dormice,  may  be  very  much  alike  ; 
and  if  certain  members  of  each  group  had  acquired  the  same 
mode  of  life  as  the  flying-squirrels,  their  similarity  would 
probably  have  become  still  more  noticeable.  For  unless 


AN  AFRICAN  SCALE-TAIL  IN  FLIGHT. 


[To  face p,  236 


THE  FLYING-SQUIRRELS  OF  ASIA  AND  AFRICA    237 

the  whole  skeleton  of  the  fore-limbs  be  so  modified  as  to 
form  a  wing,  as  in  bats,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  ordinary 
mammals  could  be  endowed  with  the  power  of  taking  flying 
leaps  save  by  the  development  of  an  expanse  of  skin  along 
the  sides  of  the  body  in  the  manner  which  obtains  in  the 
true  flying-squirrels,  the  scale-tailed  flying-squirrels,  the 
flying-phalangers,  and,  it  may  be  added,  the  flying-lemurs. 

The  development  of  flying  membranes  in  all  these  four 
groups  of  mammals  has,  in  fact,  taken  place  quite  inde- 
pendently, and  affords  an  interesting  example  of  what  is 
known  as  parallelism  in  development.  Such  parallelisms 
are  due,  so  to  speak,  to  the  poverty  of  possibilities  in 
the  way  of  modification  of  animal  structures.  As  already 
said,  the  simplest  and  most  obvious  way  of  endowing  an 
ordinary  four-limbed  mammal  with  the  power  of  taking 
flying  leaps  is  by  the  development  of  lateral  expansions 
of  skin.  Similarly,  the  only  easily  conceivable  method  by 
which  a  primitive  short-limbed  and  many-toed  hoofed 
mammal  could  be  converted  into  one  cut  out  for  speed, 
like  a  horse  or  a  gazelle,  is  by  reducing  the  number  of 
the  digits  and  increasing  the  length  of  the  lower  segments 
of  the  limbs.  Accordingly,  we  find  parallelism  in  this 
respect  between  the  horses  and  the  zebras  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  gazelles,  antelopes,  and  deer  on  the  other. 

But  the  parallelism  is  by  no  means  exact  in  this  latter 
case,  as  indeed  would  be  naturally  expected  if  the  lines 
of  evolution  were  distinct ;  and  the  structure  of  the  lower 
portion  of  the  limb  of  a  horse  differs  essentially  from  the 
same  part  in  a  gazelle. 

Neither  is  the  parallelism  exact  in  the  case  of  the  two 
groups  of  flying-squirrels.  In  the  flying-squirrels  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  such  as  the  one  depicted  in  the  plate,  the 
flying  membrane,  or  parachute,  is  merely  a  lateral  expansion 


238  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  the  ordinary  skin  of  the  body,  which  extends  outwards 
between  the  limbs  as  far  as  the  wrists  and  ankles.  In 
addition  to  the  two  lateral  membranes,  there  is  a  narrow 
and  inconspicuous  one  passing  from  each  cheek  along  the 
front  of  the  shoulder  to  the  front  of  the  wrist ;  and  another, 
at  least  in  the  larger  forms,  connecting  the  two  hind-legs 
and  involving  the  base  of  the  tail. 

In  general  characters  the  parachute  of  the  scale-tailed 
flying-squirrels  of  Africa  conforms  to  the  above  type  ;  and 
a  superficial  observer  might  say  that  the  two  were  in  all 
respects  similar.  A  closer  examination  will,  however,  reveal 
the  fact  that  the  parachute  in  this  group  is  supported  by 
a  process  of  cartilage  projecting  like  a  yard-arm  from  the 
elbow  and  extending  to  the  edge  of  the  membrane.  As 
this  is  present  in  all  the  scale-tails  (as  we  may  call  them 
for  short,  especially  as  they  have  no  right  at  all  to  the 
title  of  squirrels)  and  absent  in  all  the  true  flying-squirrels, 
it  evidently  indicates  an  important  difference  between  the 
two  groups. 

A  further  important  distinction  between  them  is  afforded 
by  the  presence  on  the  under-surface  of  the  basal  portion  of 
the  tail  of  a  series  of  overlapping  horny  scales,  from  which 
the  African  group  takes  both  its  popular  title  of  scale-tail 
and  its  scientific  name  of  Anomalurus.  Evidently  these 
scales  are  intended  to  aid  in  supporting  the  animals  as 
they  climb  the  boughs  or  stems  of  trees,  and  they  are 
thus  strictly  analogous  to  the  stiff  tail-feathers  of  wood- 
peckers. 

Yet  another  difference  between  the  two  groups  is  to  be 
found  in  the  structure  of  the  crowns  of  their  cheek-teeth. 
In  ordinary  squirrels  the  grinding  surfaces  of  these  teeth 
are  surmounted  by  simple  tubercles,  which  in  some  cases 
may  be  elongated  into  ridges.  And  a  similar  type  of 


THE  WOOLLY  FLYING-SQUIRREL  OF  ASTOR  AND  GILGIT. 

\Tofacep,  238 


THE  FLYING-SQUIRRELS  OF  ASIA  AND  AFRICA    239 

tooth-structure  obtains  in  most  of  the  flying-squirrels  of 
Europe  and  Asia,  although  in  the  species  shown  in  the 
plate  the  structure  has  become  somewhat  more  complicated 
owing  to  the  taller  crowns  of  these  teeth.  In  the  scale-tails, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  totally  different  type  of  tooth-structure 
obtains,  the  crowns  of  the  molars  being  divided  by  trans- 
verse folds  of  enamel,  after  a  fashion  recalling  that  which 
prevails  in  certain  South  American  rodents. 

To  the  anatomist  these  differences  are  sufficient  to  render 
it  quite  certain  that  the  scale-tailed  flying-squirrels  are,  at 
most,  but  very  remotely  connected  with  their  non-scaled 
namesakes  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  The  non-scientific 
person  might,  however,  say  that  the  "  yard-arm "  in  the 
parachute  and  the  scales  on  the  tail  are  features  which 
have  been  developed  concomitantly  with  the  acquisition  of 
the  parachute  itself  in  certain  species  of  flying-squirrels, 
and  that,  like  the  differences  in  the  structure  of  the  teeth, 
they  are  of  no  particular  importance  one  way  or  the  other 
in  regard  to  the  affinities  of  the  animals  in  which  they 
occur. 

A  few  years  ago  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
produce  absolutely  decisive  evidence  as  to  the  futility  of 
such  specious  arguments.  Recently,  however,  there  has 
been  discovered  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa — that  home 
of  strange  and  primitive  types  of  animal  life — a  rodent 
looking  not  unlike  a  large  dormouse,  which  is  really  the 
"grandfather"  of  all  the  flying  scale-tails.  For  this  creature 
(known  as  Zenkerella),  although  without  a  parachute,  has 
scales  on  its  tail  like  Anomalurus,  and  teeth  of  the  same 
type  as  the  latter.  Whether  it  is  the  actual  form  from 
which  the  flying  scale-tails  are  descended,  or  whether  it 
is  itself  a  descendant  of  such  ancestral  form,  may  be  left 
an  open  question,  as  it  is  one  of  no  practical  importance. 


240  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

But  it  may  be  taken  as  certain  that  the  flying  scale-tails — 
of  which,  by  the  way,  there  are  two  distinct  generic  types 
(Anomalurus  and  Idiurus) — are  the  specialised  descendants 
of  a  creature  closely  allied  to,  if  not  identical  with,  Zenkerella. 
It  may  further  be  affirmed  with  certainty  that  the  evolution 
of  the  flying  from  the  non-flying  scale-tails  has  taken  place 
in  Africa.  Whether,  however,  Zenkerella  itself  is  an  aborigi- 
nal African  type,  or  an  immigrant  into  the  dark  continent 
from  the  north,  is  a  question  difficult  to  answer  at  the 
present  time. 

Although  the  flying-squirrels  of  Europe  and  Asia  have 
been  known  from  time  immemorial,  their  pedigree  is  not 
so  easy  to  trace  as  is  that  of  the  scale-tails.  Probably 
they  were  evolved  from  non-flying  squirrels  at  an  earlier 
date  than  that  at  which  Anomalurus  branched  off  from 
Zenkerella  (or  its  prototype),  as  they  appear  to  be  repre- 
sented by  teeth  in  some  of  the  earlier  Tertiary  deposits 
of  Europe.  It  is  therefore  quite  probable  that  even  the 
generic  types  from  which  they  trace  their  descent  have 
died  out.  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  considered  practically 
certain  that  they  are  descended  from  rodents  more  or  less 
nearly  allied  to  the  true  squirrels  of  the  genus  Sciurus. 
Their  pedigree  is  therefore  wholly  distinct  from  that  of  their 
reputed  cousins,  the  scale-tailed  flying-squirrels  of  Equatorial 
Africa. 

In  appearance  the  true  flying-squirrels,  of  which  there 
are  three  distinct  generic  types,  are  very  similar  to 
ordinary  squirrels,  as  indeed  they  are  in  their  habits ; 
their  long  flying  leaps,  during  which  they  half  float  in  the 
air  by  the  aid  of  the  parachute,  being  only  an  extension 
of  the  bounds  taken  by  the  ordinary  red  squirrel  in  its 
passage  from  tree  to  tree.  Many  of  them  are  even  more 
beautifully  coloured  than  ordinary  squirrels.  Compared 


THE  FLYING-SQUIRRELS  OF  ASIA  AND  AFRICA    241 

with  the  latter,  flying-squirrels  are  more  strictly  nocturnal 
animals ;  and  their  shrill  scream  is  familiar  to  all  travellers 
in  the  wooded  districts  of  the  Himalayas,  as  they  are 
attracted  by  the  light  of  the  camp-fire. 

The  smallest  members  of  the  group  are  the  pigmy 
flying-squirrels,  typified  by  Sciuropterus  volans  of  Eastern 
Europe  and  Siberia,  and  represented  in  North  America 
by  the  closely  allied  S.  volucella.  They  are  pretty  little 
creatures,  with  soft  velvety  fur  and  enormous  staring 
black  eyes.  In  all  the  pigmy  flying-squirrels  the  mem- 
brane connecting  the  hind-legs  and  the  base  of  the  tail  is 
absent ;  but,  in  compensation,  the  tail  itself  is  broad,  flat, 
and  laterally  expanded,  so  as  to  form  an  efficient  aid  in 
flight. 

The  typical  and  larger  flying-squirrels,  formerly  known 
as  Pteromys  but  now  called  Petaurista,  are  confined  to 
Europe  and  Asia,  having  no  transatlantic  representative. 
Unlike  that  of  the  pigmy  flying-squirrels,  the  tail  of  these 
rodents  is  cylindrical  and  comparatively  thin,  while,  as 
already  said,  the  parachute  is  fully  developed  between  the 
hind-limbs. 

In  the  last  and  finest  representation  of  all  the  flying- 
squirrels — the  species  shown  in  the  accompanying  plate — 
the  writer  has  a  special  personal  interest.  About  the 
year  1878,  when  in  Srinagar,  Kashmir,  he  purchased 
the  skin  of  a  large  flying-squirrel  from  a  chamra-walla 
(tanner),  who  stated  that  it  came  from  Astor  or  Gilgit, 
and  that  he  had  never  previously  seen  its  like.  In  due 
course  this  skin  was  brought  to  England,  and  converted 
into  a  perambulator-rug,  in  which  capacity  it  was  in  use 
for  several  years,  on  one  occasion  narrowly  escaping 
complete  destruction  by  the  jaws  of  a  favourite  pug-dog. 
At  this  period,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  writer  was 

16 


242  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

less  well  acquainted  with  mammals,  so  far  as  their  exteriors 
are  concerned,  than  he  is  at  the  present  day.  And 
although  he  had  a  suspicion  that  the  skin  in  question 
was  peculiar,  no  steps  were  taken  to  ascertain  whether 
this  was  really  the  case.  One  day,  however,  in  1888, 
when  paying  a  visit  to  the  Natural  History  Museum,  he 
was  shown  a  living  flying-squirrel  from  Astor,  remarkable 
for  its  dark  colour  and  bushy  tail,  which  was  pronounced 
to  represent  a  then  unknown  species.  A  brief  inspection 
was  sufficient  to  render  it  evident  that  the  skin  serving  as 
a  perambulator-rug  belonged  to  the  same  species  as  the 
living  animal,  although  a  much  larger  and  finer  individual. 
It  was  soon  after  presented  to  the  Museum,  and  described, 
in  conjunction  with  the  complete  specimen,  not  only  as 
the  type  of  a  new  species,  but  of  a  new  genus,  under  the 
title  of  Eupetaurus  cinereus.  Owing  to  the  splendid  de- 
velopment of  the  tail  in  the  flat  skin,  the  figure  of  which 
a  reproduction  is  given  in  the  plate  was  partly  drawn 
from  that  specimen. 

The  main  reason  for  making  the  woolly  flying-squirrel 
(as,  from  the  nature  of  its  coat,  it  has  been  called)  the 
type  of  a  genus  by  itself  is  afforded  by  the  characters  of 
its  cheek-teeth,  which  differ  from  those  of  other  members 
of  the  group  by  their  tall  crowns  and  imperfectly  developed 
roots.  This  character  indicates  greater  specialisation  than 
the  ordinary  flying-squirrels.  Unfortunately  little  or 
nothing  is  known  as  to  the  life-history  of  this  splendid 
representative  of  the  flying-squirrels,  but  there  is  some 
reason  to  believe  that  it  dwells,  at  least  to  a  certain  extent, 
among  rocks  rather  than  in  trees. 

Although  they  do  not  properly  come  within  the  scope 
of  the  present  article,  a  few  words  may  be  said  with 
regard  to  the  flying-phalangers  (the  flying-squirrels  of  the 


THE  FLYING-SQUIRRELS  OF  ASIA  AND  AFRICA    243 

colonists)  of  Australia,  since  in  one  respect  they  present 
a  curious  analogy  with  the  flying-squirrels  of  the  Old 
World,  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  these  Australian 
flying-phalangers  are  true  marsupials,  with  a  dentition 
resembling  that  of  the  ordinary  phalangers,  or,  as  they 
are  locally  called,  opossums.  The  larger  flying-phalangers, 
which  constitute  the  genus  Petaurus,  are  characterised  by 
the  full  development  of  the  parachute  and  the  rounded 
bushy  tail.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Asiatic  flying  squirrels, 
we  are  unable  to  point  out  the  non-volant  type  of 
phal  anger  from  which  they  are  descended. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  beautiful  pigmy  flying-phalanger 
(Acrobates),  which  differs  from  the  larger  forms  by  the 
scantier  development  of  its  parachute,  as  well  as  by  its 
tail  being  formed  after  the  type  of  a  feather — that  is  to 
say,  being  flattened,  with  a  line  of  hair  along  each  edge — 
is  evidently  descended  from  the  non-flying  feather-tailed 
phalanger  (Distichurus),  or  the  immediate  ancestor  of  the 
latter.  In  this  case,  therefore,  we  have  an  exact  parallelism 
to  the  descent  of  the  flying  representatives  of  the  scale-tails 
from  the  non-flying  Zenkerella. 


THE    BEAVER   IN    NORWAY 

HAD  not  the  use  of  its  hair  in  the  manufacture  of  hats 
been  superseded  by  that  of  silk,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
the  beaver,  both  in  the  Old  World  and  in  America,  would 
by  this  time  have  been  numbered  among  extinct  animals. 
As  it  is,  the  creature  has  but  a  hard  time  of  it  at  best, 
for  although  there  is  no  longer  a  demand  for  its  hair  by  the 
hat-manufacturer,  yet  beaver-fur  is  an  article  highly  valued 
by  the  furrier,  and  equally  highly  esteemed  by  the  fair 
sex.  Although  a  few  survive  in  the  Rhone  and  the  Rhine, 
while  more  numerous  colonies  are  found  in  parts  of  Russia, 
the  beaver  has  been  practically  swept  away  from  most 
European  countries,  though  place-names  frequently  bear 
testimony  to  its  former  presence.  Among  the  countries 
where  it  still  maintains  a  foothold  is  Norway,  where  Dr. 
Robert  Collett,  the  well-known  Zoological  Professor  at  the 
University  of  Christiania,  has  described  its  present  condition 
and  habits. 

It  appears  that  for  some  years  the  beaver  has  enjoyed 
a  certain  amount  of  protection  in  Norway,  and  if  this  pro- 
tection be  continued,  Dr.  Collett  is  of  opinion  that  the 
animal  will  survive  well  into  this  century.  The  two  most 
important  colonies  now  remaining  are  situated  at  Aamli 
and  Nedrethelemarken. 

The  Norwegian  beaver  began  to  decrease  in  numbers 
from  the  early  part  or  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 

244 


THE   BEAVER   IN   NORWAY  245 

and  by  1800  had  already  disappeared  from  most  parts  of 
the  country,  with  the  exception  of  the  northern  districts 
of  Finmark  and  Nordland,  and  the  southern  province  of 
Nedenas,  or  Christiansand.  The  work  of  extermination 
went  on  more  or  less  rapidly  till  the  year  1845,  when  it 
was  somewhat  checked  by  the  enactment  of  protective 
statutes ;  but  either  these  could  not  have  worked  very 
effectually,  or  the  war  of  extermination  had  been  only  too 
well  carried  out,  for  in  1880  the  number  of  individuals 
surviving  throughout  the  country  was  estimated  at  only 
about  three  score.  Three  years  later  the  number  of  head 
was  put  down  roughly  at  a  hundred,  and  since  that  date 
it  is  probable  that  the  number  has  been  fully  maintained, 
if,  indeed,  it  has  not  actually  increased. 

The  statutes  which  have  been  enacted  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  beaver  in  Norway  are  not,  for  the  most  part, 
of  a  very  effectual  nature,  and  have  a  decidedly  feudatory 
smack.  The  statute  of  1845  provided  that  no  beavers  at 
all  should  be  killed  for  ten  years,  and  then  only  by  the 
proprietors  of  the  estates  on  which  they  were  found.  This 
was  admirable  so  far  as  it  went,  but  as  from  the  beginning 
of  1856  proprietors  were  again  allowed  to  kill,  without 
either  restriction  as  to  time  or  number,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  good  results  of  the  first  enactment  might  very  well 
have  been  speedily  lost.  Probably  this  was  found  to  be 
the  case,  as  in  1863  a  fresh  statute  was  propounded, 
establishing  a  close  time  and  fixing  a  limitation  in  number. 
According  to  this  statute,  beavers  were  only  allowed  to 
be  killed  during  the  months  of  August,  September,  and 
October,  and  then  only  by  owners  of  estates,  who  were 
permitted  to  kill  but  one  individual  annually  on  each 
separate  estate. 

Special  exemptions  might,   however,   be  granted   by  the 


246  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

sovereign,  who  was  enabled  to  give  permission  for  the 
killing  of  several  individuals  on  large  estates,  or  even 
to  permit  the  proprietors  to  kill  the  whole  number  of 
animals  on  an  island  or  enclosed  property,  thus  putting 
some  of  the  colonies,  like  the  one  at  Aamli,  entirely  in 
the  power  of  the  owner.  Moreover,  although  slaughter  is 
entirely  forbidden  on  Crown  or  municipal  lands,  beavers 
might  be  killed  to  any  extent,  and  apparently  in  any 
number,  on  private  estates  where  they  inflicted  appreciable 
damage. 

Two  much  more  effectual  statutes  have,  however,  come 
into  operation :  the  one,  dated  August  3 1  st,  1 894,  pro- 
tecting all  the  beavers  in  the  Amt  of  Sondre  Bergenhus 
till  the  end  of  1904,  and  the  other,  dated  September  3rd, 
1895,  doing  the  same  for  the  colony  of  Aamli  till  the  end 
of  1905.  The  penalty  for  illegally  killing  beaver  is  a  fine 
of  eighty  kronors  (about  £4  lOs.),  which  can  be  inflicted 
on  all  the  participators  in  the  offence. 

The  chief  food  of  the  beaver  in  Norway  consists  of  the 
fresh  bark  of  deciduous  trees,  more  especially  the  aspen, 
the  larger  branches  being  barked,  but  the  twigs  consumed 
entire,  and  the  coarse  bark  of  the  trunk  generally  rejected. 
For  winter  use  small  branches  are  sunk  near  the  entrance 
to  the  lodge,  but  no  store  of  stripped  bark  is  collected. 
Most  of  the  trees  felled  are  situated  close  to  the  water, 
with  beaten  tracks  leading  to  them  from  the  lodge,  but 
occasionally  some  are  chosen  a  considerable  distance  away 
from  the  river.  The  trees  are  gnawed  all  round  until 
the  portion  left  is  so  thin  that  the  stem  breaks  from  its 
own  weight,  the  stump  remaining  being  generally  about 
half  a  yard  in  length,  and  terminating  in  a  point  like  a 
pencil,  as  does  the  lower  end  of  the  felled  stem.  Small 
trunks  or  branches  are,  however,  gnawed  in  a  slanting 


THE   BEAVER   IN   NORWAY  247 

direction.  Only  healthy  trees  are  selected  for  felling, 
and  sometimes  these  are  left  half  gnawed  through  without 
any  apparent  reason.  No  attempt  appears  to  be  made 
to  make  the  trees  fall  in  any  particular  direction,  as  they 
may  be  seen  lying  pointing  all  ways.  The  trunks  and 
boughs,  after  being  stripped  of  their  bark,  are  cut  into 
convenient  lengths  and  employed  for  building,  the  current 
being  used  for  their  transport  whenever  practicable.  Many 
lodges  are,  however,  constructed  in  still  water,  and  the 
animals  are  then  compelled  to  convey  the  timber  by  their 
own  exertions,  this  being  effected  by  holding  the  log  in 
the  water  between  the  fore-paws  and  swimming  with  the 
hind-feet. 

The  construction  of  the  lodge  is  a  serious  business, 
occupying  at  least  two  years,  and  annual  repairs  are 
necessary  to  keep  it  in  habitable  condition.  Building 
operations  take  place  in  the  autumn,  lasting  from  Sep- 
tember till  well  into  November,  and  as  they  are  nearly 
always  undertaken  at  night,  it  is  but  seldom  that  an 
opportunity  occurs  of  seeing  the  animals  at  work.  In 
Norway  the  lodges  are  either  conical  or  elliptical  in  shape, 
the  majority  being  now  of  the  latter  type.  The  conical 
lodges,  which  appear  to  have  been  more  common  formerly 
than  they  are  at  present,  are  placed  on  the  banks  of  ponds 
in  which  the  water  level  is  constant,  such  ponds  being 
either  natural  or  made  by  the  animals  damming  up  the 
stream.  On  the  other  hand,  the  elliptical  or  elongated 
lodges  are  invariably  formed  on  the  banks  of  a  river  with 
running  water  subject  to  constant  change  of  level.  Although 
the  majority  are  considerably  smaller,  they  may  be  as 
much  as  fifty  feet  in  length,  the  width  seldom  exceeding 
eight  or  nine  feet.  One  half  generally  lies  under  water, 
and  thus  prevents  the  edifice  from  being  left  high  and  dry 


248  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

when  the  river  runs  low.  The  main  entrance  is  invariably 
placed  at  the  end  of  the  submerged  portion,  but  another 
outlet  may  be  made  on  shore  beyond  the  lodge  itself,  and 
is  then  generally  covered  with  a  layer  of  twigs,  or  twigs 
and  earth.  As  a  rule,  the  lodges  are  isolated,  although  a 
couple  may  be  built  in  contact.  Seen  from  a  distance^  the 
lodge  looks  like  a  confused  pile  of  timber  and  earth  with- 
out any  definite  arrangement.  The  logs  employed  are 
usually  from  a  couple  of  feet  to  a  yard  in  length,  although 
they  may  sometimes  be  double  this  size ;  twigs  are  also 
largely  used,  and  sometimes  take  root  and  develop  into 
saplings  on  the  roofs.  Stones  are  but  seldom  employed. 
Many  of  the  logs  are  stripped  of  their  bark,  but  others  are 
built  in  just  as  they  are  felled  ;  and  not  infrequently  drift 
logs  of  pine  and  other  trees  which  are  men-felled  are 
annexed.  The  logs  and  twigs  are  thrown  together  pell- 
mell,  and  the  interstices  tightly  rammed  with  earth,  the 
thickness  of  the  walls  being  about  a  couple  of  feet.  The 
passage  leading  from  the  submerged  edge  of  the  lodge  to 
the  central  dwelling-chamber  is  usually  single,  and  about 
twenty  inches  in  diameter,  its  interior,  when  in  clayey  soil, 
becoming  worn  perfectly  smooth. 

A  double  lodge  opened  in  1895  is  described  by  Mr.  Collett 
as  follows  :  "  The  left  or  short  lodge  contained  an  unoccu- 
pied chamber  without  lining.  The  right,  which  was  long 
and  of  considerable  age,  extended  for  some  way  under  an 
oak  coppice.  The  chamber  in  this  was  situated  about  six 
yards  from  the  water,  half  a  yard  underground,  and  con- 
sisted of  an  enlargement  of  the  passage  to  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  yard  in  height."  It  was  thickly  lined  with 
the  under-bark  of  the  aspen. 

Ice-floes  and  floating  timber  do  much  damage  to  the 
lodges,  and  thus  entail  an  annual  repair,  which,  as  already 


THE   BEAVER   IN   NORWAY  249 

said,  is  carried  out  in  autumn.  Spring  and  autumn  floods 
also  frequently  submerge  the  lodges,  from  which  large 
portions  are  loosened  and  swept  away.  From  twenty  to 
thirty  years  is  the  probable  period  during  which  a  lodge 
is  habitable. 

On  the  bank  of  the  river  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
lodge  numerous  burrows  are  met  with,  a  few  of  which  are 
in  connection  with  the  lodge,  although  most  are  entirely 
separate.  Burrows  are  the  first  refuges  formed  by  the 
beaver  when  taking  possession  of  a  fresh  spot,  and  they 
may  accordingly  be  likened  to  the  rude  sheds  erected  by 
workmen  employed  on  building  a  mansion.  Probably 
each  lodge  is  tenanted  only  by  a  single  couple  and  their 
young  family,  the  young  beavers,  when  able  to  do  without 
parental  assistance,  either  settling  down  temporarily  in 
burrows  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  or  wandering 
away  to  found  new  colonies.  Small  lodges  constructed  in 
a  kind  of  jerry-building  fashion  appear  to  be  run  up  by 
bachelor  beavers  who  have  not  yet  ventured  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  responsibilities  of  a  wife  and  family.  There 
may,  however,  be  also  spinster  beavers  to  whom  such 
accommodation  is  also  necessary — it  is  to  be  hoped  only 
temporarily. 

Dams  are  constructed  where  beavers  have  quartered 
themselves  by  the  sides  of  gently  flowing  streamlets,  or 
small  ponds  through  which  a  current  runs,  in  order  to 
obtain  water  of  sufficient  depth  and  maintaining  a  constant 
level.  The  dam  is  substantially  built  and  difficult  to 
demolish.  One  examined  in  189$  was  constructed  at  the 
outflow  of  a  small  stream  through  a  forest-marsh ;  and 
where  there  was  formerly  but  a  small  shallow  pool,  a 
pond  or  lake  of  some  few  hundred  yards  in  diameter  soon 
resulted  from  the  labours  of  these  indefatigable  rodents. 


250  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

The  dam,  which  was  about  fifteen  feet  in  length,  with 
a  cross-section  of  some  two  feet,  was  entirely  made  in  the 
course  of  three  weeks  during  the  summer  of  1890.  In 
Canada,  when  the  dam  is  sufficiently  stout,  the  pool  will 
eventually  silt  up  and  form  a  "  beaver-meadow,"  but  Mr. 
Collett  does  not  record  any  of  these  "  meadows "  in 
Norway. 

During  the  cold  winter  months  the  beavers,  although 
not  hibernating  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  pass  what 
appears  a  somewhat  dull  existence  in  the  central  chamber 
of  the  lodge,  the  roof  of  which  for  most  of  the  time  is 
buried  in  snow.  Sometimes,  however,  when  the  weather 
is  mild  for  the  season,  and  an  unusually  cold  autumn  has 
prevented  the  completion  of  the  annual  repairs  at  the 
proper  time,  the  beavers  will  venture  out  from  their 
retirement  for  a  short  period  in  order  to  remedy  such 
dilapidations  as  stand  in  urgent  need  of  immediate  atten- 
tion. When  they  have  been  engaged  on  such  works  their 
footprints  are  visible  in  the  snow.  Immediately  after  the 
breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  spring  the  animals  issue  forth 
to  procure  a  fresh  supply  of  food  and  resume  their  daily 
avocations. 

The  young  beavers  are  born  in  April  or  May,  three 
being  apparently  a  common  number  in  a  litter.  At  first 
their  eyes  are  closed,  but  they  grow  rapidly,  and  by 
September  or  October  are  about  the  size  of  a  cat.  When 
able  to  shift  for  themselves,  they  leave  the  parental  lodge, 
and  frequently  start  off  to  found  a  family  in  some  fresh 
locality,  although  sometimes  they  set  off  on  their  wanderings 
alone.  Following  the  courses  of  small  streams,  they 
frequently  track  straight  across  the  open  mountain-slopes 
for  many  miles,  so  that  one  or  more  not  infrequently 
make  their  appearance  in  valleys  where  none  have  been 


THE   BEAVER   IN   NORWAY  251 

known  for  years.  They  will  even  occasionally  cross 
small  arms  of  the  sea,  and  the  perils  of  the  journey  end 
in  death  to  no  inconsiderable  number. 

Several  old-time  superstitions  still  cling  round  the  beaver. 
One  of  the  most  persistent  and  most  incorrect  is  that 
the  flat  scaly  tail  is  employed  as  a  trowel  for  plastering 
down  the  mud  during  building  operations.  Another  is 
that  the  secretion  of  the  tail-glands — the  castoreum  of  the 
old  pharmacopoeia — has  the  property  of  frightening  away 
whales  or  porpoises  when  approaching  the  boat !  Still 
more  strange  is  the  old  idea  that  some  individuals  were 
compelled  to  lie  on  their  backs  and  be  laden  with  building 
materials,  when  they  were  dragged  by  their  companions 
to  the  scene  of  operations.  Probably  this  fable  originated 
from  the  circumstance  that  many  individuals  have  the 
hair  worn  off  the  back  from  constantly  passing  up  and 
down  the  narrow  burrow  or  entrance  to  a  lodge. 


THE    EXTINCT    QUAGGA 

WHEN  the  Dutch  first  colonised  that  part  of  Africa  of 
which  Cape  Town  now  forms  the  capital,  they  found  the 
country  absolutely  swarming  with  a  great  variety  of  species 
of  large  game  and  other  animals,  whose  form  and  appear- 
ance were  for  the  most  part  unfamiliar.  As  they  them- 
selves came  from  a  land  which  had  long  since  been  stripped 
of  the  larger  members  of  its  fauna,  it  is  possible  that 
unfamiliarity  with  these  prototypes  was  one  of  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  indiscriminate  and  often  inappropriate 
bestowal  of  the  names  of  the  large  mammals  of  Europe, 
or  compounds  of  the  same,  on  the  animals  of  the  new 
country.  What,  for  instance,  can  be  more  inappropriate 
than  the  transference  of  the  Dutch  name  for  elk  (eland) 
to  the  largest  of  the  Cape  antelopes — unless,  indeed  (which 
is  scarcely  likely),  the  settlers  were  acquainted  with  the 
fact  that  etymologically  the  word  signifies,  in  its  Greek 
original,  "  strength  "  ?  Neither  is  hartebeest  (stag-ox)  much 
better,  although  wildebeest  (wild  ox)  is  by  no  means  an 
unsuitable  designation  for  the  animals  known  to  the 
Hottentots  by  the  title  of  gnu.  Bastard  hartebeest,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  a  cumbrous  and  senseless  name  for  the 
antelope  the  Bechuanas  call  tsessabe,  and  it  is  much  to 
be  regretted  that  the  Boers  did  not  see  fit  to  adopt  for 
South  African  animals  the  native  titles  they  found  ready 
to  hand. 

253 


THE  EXTINCT    QUAGGA  253 

In  two  instances,  and  apparently  in  two  only,  so  far 
as  the  larger  animals  are  concerned,  they  did,  however, 
adopt  this  practice.  The  first  instance  is  that  of  the 
large  and  handsome  spiral-horned  antelope  now  univer- 
sally known  as  kudu,  a  name  which  is  certainly  not  Dutch, 
and  is  believed  by  Sir  Harry  Johnston  to  be  of  Hottentot 
origin,  since  it  is  unknown  to  the  Kaffirs  or  other  tribes 
who  speak  dialects  of  the  Bantu  language.  The  second 
case  is  that  of  the  animal  forming  the  subject  of  this 
article,  which  is  now  universally  known  as  quagga,  from  a 
corruption  of  its  Hottentot  name  quacha,  pronounced  by 
the  natives  as  "quaha."  Even  in  this  instance,  however, 
the  Boers  appear  at  first  to  have  displayed  considerable 
reluctance  to  adopt  the  native  name,  for  they  originally 
called  the  animal  wilde  esel  (wild  ass)  in  the  same  way 
as  they  christened  its  cousin,  Burchell's  zebra,  wilde 
paard,  or  wild  horse.  Eventually,  however,  better  counsels 
prevailed,  and  Equus  quagga  became  known  to  the  Cape 
Dutch  by  the  aforesaid  native  name,  while  the  wilde  paard 
(whose  early  title  still  survives  in  Paardeberg)  was 
renamed  bonte  quacha,  or  striped  quagga.  When,  how- 
ever, the  true  quagga  became  very  rare  and  eventually 
exterminated,  the  prefix  bonte  was  dropped  from  the  Dutch 
designation  of  Burchell's  zebra,  which  was  henceforth 
known  throughout  South  Africa  as  the  quacha,  or  quagga? 
pure  and  simple.  Hence  much  confusion,  and  possibly 
also  a  factor  in  the  extermination  of  the  species  to  which 
that  title  of  right  belonged.  For  as  the  name  in  question 
continued  to  be  in  common  use  in  South  Africa  at  the 
time  the  true  quagga  was  on  the  point  of  extermination, 
it  is  quite  probable  that  this  may  have  been  the  reason 
why  the  attention  of  naturalists  in  Europe  was  not  drawn 
to  its  impending  fate  while  there  was  yet  time. 


254  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

According  ,to  the  best  obtainable  evidence  the  quagga 
appears  to  have  become  extinct,  in  Cape  Colony  at  any 
rate,*  about  the  year  1865,  at  which  date  a  specimen 
was  actually  living  in  the  London  Zoological  Society's 
menagerie  ;  while  another  had  died  there  only  the  year 
before.  Of  the  latter  example,  a  male,  presented  to  the 
Society  in  1858  by  the  late  Sir  George  Grey,  the  carcase 
was  fortunately  acquired  by  the  British  Museum,  where 
both  its  skin  and  skeleton  are  now  preserved.  The  former 
specimen — a  female  purchased  in  1851 — survived  till  the 
summer  of  1872,  when  its  carcase  was  sold  (apparently 
without  the  least  idea  of  its  priceless  value)  to  a  London 
taxidermist,  from  whom  the  mounted  skin  was  acquired 
many  years  after  by  Mr.  Walter  Rothschild,  for  his  museum 
at  Tring.  Not  impossibly,  this  specimen  was  actually  the 
last  survivor  of  its  kind,  although,  as  already  said,  there 
was  not  even  a  suspicion  that  it  belonged  to  a  rare  species. 
Most  fortunately  for  natural  history,  a  photograph  of  this 
animal  was  taken  in  the  summer  of  1870  by  Messrs. 
York  &  Son,  and  it  is  from  that  picture  that  most  of  the 
later  figures  of  the  animal  appear  to  have  been  taken.  It 
is  probably  the  only  photograph  of  a  living  specimen  in 
existence. 

According  to  a  note  published  by  the  Secretary,  in  the 
Proceedings  for  1891,  the  only  other  example  of  the  quagga 
in  the  London  Zoological  Society's  menagerie  was  one 
purchased  in  1831.  No  record  of  its  death  appears  to 
have  been  preserved,  but  it  may  have  been  the  same 


*  From  the  fact  that  a  skin  was  purchased  by  the  Edinburgh 
Museum  in  1879,  Mr.  G.  Renshaw  (Zoologist,  February,  1901)  has 
suggested  that  the  species  may  have  survived  in  the  Orange  River 
Colony  till  about  that  date  ;  but  the  Edinburgh  specimen  appears  to 
have  been  an  old  one  at  the  date  of  its  purchase. 


THE   EXTINCT   QUAGGA  255 

specimen  of  which  the  skin  was  exhibited  in  the  Society's 
old  museum  in  1838,  or  thereabouts.  These,  however, 
were  by  n6  means  the  only  specimens  brought  alive  to 
England,  for  as  early  as  1815  one  was  in  the  possession 
of  Lord  Morton,  while  somewhat  later  on  in  the  last 
century  Mr.  Sheriff  Parkins  was  in  the  habit  of  driving 
two  quaggas  in  a  phaeton  about  London,  and  in  narrating 
this  circumstance  the  late  Colonel  Hamilton  Smith  men- 
tions that  he  himself  had  been  drawn  in  a  gig  by  one  of 
these  animals,  which  showed  "  as  much  temper  and  delicacy 
of  mouth  as  any  domestic  horse."  Another  quagga  was 
in  the  possession  of  a  former  Prince  of  Wales,  and  there 
are  records  of  others  in  England.  The  skulls  of  the  two 
driven  by  Mr.  Parkins,  as  well  as  a  portrait  of  one  of 
them,  are  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College 
of  Surgeons. 

In  addition  to  the  specimens  in  the  British,  Edinburgh,  and 
Tring  museums,  several  skins  are  preserved  on  the  Con- 
tinent. With  one  exception,  all  appear  to  be  of  the  same 
general  type  as  the  London  example  photographed  by  Messrs. 
York  in  1870.  The  exception  is  one  in  the  Imperial  Museum 
at  Vienna,  of  which  a  description  and  photograph  have 
recently  been  published  by  the  Director,  Dr.  L.  von  Lorenz, 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London. 
Unfortunately  there  is  no  record  as  to  the  locality  where 
the  Vienna  specimen  (which  is  a  female)  was  obtained,  all 
that  is  known  being  that  it  was  acquired  by  purchase 
in  1836. 

Compared  with  the  ordinary  type  of  quagga,  as  exemplified 
by  York's  photograph,  the  Vienna  animal  is  of  somewhat 
larger  dimensions,  with  a  creamy  buff  (instead  of  greyish  or 
chocolate-brown)  ground-colour  on  the  upper  parts,  with  the 
exception  of  the  head,  which  is  clay-brown.  A  more  striking 


256  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

difference  is  to  be  found  in  the  broader  dark  stripes  (of  which 
there  seem  to  be  more  in  a  given  space),  and  a  corresponding 
decrease  in  the  width  of  the  intervening  light  intervals.  The 
stripes  also  seem  to  extend  farther  back  on  the  body. 

But  there  is  also  a  difference  between  quaggas  of  the  type 
of  the  one  photographed  by  York  and  those  figured  by  the 
early  writers,  as  exemplified  by  the  plate  in  Colonel  Hamilton 
Smith's  volume  on  horses  in  the  "  Naturalists'  Library."  In 
the  specimen  there  represented,  which  not  improbably  came 
from  Cape  Colony,  the  head,  neck,  and  forequarters  are 
marked  by  narrow  black  stripes  on  a  chestnut  ground. 
The  markings  are,  indeed,  as  Dr.  von  Lorenz  remarks,  just 
the  reverse  of  those  of  the  Vienna  specimen ;  the  British 
Museum  example  and  the  one  figured  by  York  being  in 
some  degree  intermediate  between  these  two  extreme  types. 

With  some  hesitation,  Dr.  von  Lorenz  suggests  that  there 
may  have  been  local  races  of  the  quagga,  as  there  are  of 
Burchell's  zebra. 

Even  in  the  days  of  its  abundance  the  quagga  (which, 
by  the  way,  takes  its  name  from  its  cry)  had  a  comparatively 
limited  distribution,  ranging  from  the  Cape  Colony  up  the 
eastern  side  of  Africa  as  far  as  the  Vaal  River,  beyond 
which  it  appears  to  have  been  unknown.  In  this  respect 
it  closely  resembled  the  white-tailed  gnu,  which,  however, 
is  known  to  have  crossed  that  river  in  one  district. 
Curiously  enough,  the  two  species  lived  in  close  comradeship, 
and  in  the  old  days  their  vast  herds  formed  a  striking 
feature  in  the  landscape  of  the  open  plains  of  the  Orange 
River  Colony.  Both  have  now  disappeared  from  the  face 
of  the  country,  for  the  white-tailed  gnu,  if,  indeed,  any  are 
now  left,  only  exists  in  a  semi-domesticated  state  on  a 
few  farms. 

Owing  to  its  rank  flavour,  and  especially  its  yellow  fat, 


THE   EXTINCT   QUAGGA  257 

the  flesh  of  the  quagga  was  almost  uneatable  by  Europeans, 
although  it  was  keenly  relished  by  the  Hottentots,  who, 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Cape  Colony,  were  largely  fed 
upon  it  by  their  Dutch  masters.  Whether  this  was  the 
cause  of  its  comparatively  early  disappearance  from  that 
part  of  the  country,  it  is  now  impossible  to  say,  but 
certain  it  is  that  when  Sir  Cornwallis  Harris  made  his 
trip  to  the  interior  in  1836,  quaggas  were  no  longer  to 
be  met  with  in  any  numbers  in  Cape  Colony,  although 
Colonel  Hamilton  Smith,  writing  a  few  years  later,  states 
that  they  were  still  to  be  found  within  its  limits.  North 
of  the  Vaal  River  they  occurred,  however,  in  their  original 
multitudes,  and  it  was  not  till  about  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  that  the  Boers  took  to  hide-hunting,  and 
thus  in  a  few  years  accomplished  the  extermination  of  the 
species. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  facility  with 
which  the  quagga  could  be  broken  to  harness,  and  it 
seems  probable  that  the  species  could  have  been  more 
easily  domesticated  than  any  of  its  South  African  relatives. 
Another  trait  in  its  disposition  is  worth  brief  mention.  It 
was  said  to  be  the  boldest  and  fiercest  of  the  whole  equine 
tribe,  attacking  and  driving  off  both  the  wild  dog  and  the 
spotted  hyaena.  On  this  account  the  Boers  are  stated 
to  have  frequently  kept  a  few  tame  quaggas  on  their 
farms,  which  were  turned  out  at  night  to  graze  with  the 
horses  in  order  to  protect  them  from  the  attacks  of  beasts 
of  prey. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  plain  country  to  the  south 
of  the  Vaal  River  the  quagga  was  the  sole  wild  representa- 
tive of  the  horse  family,  the  true  zebra  being  confined  to 
the  mountains  of  Cape  Colony  and  adjacent  districts. 
North  of  the  Vaal  River  the  veldt  was,  however,  dotted 

'7 


258  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

over  with  herds  of  Burchell's  zebra,  the  aforesaid  bonte 
quagga,  which,  inclusive  of  its  local  races,  has  a  very 
extensive  geographical  distribution  in  East  and  Central 
Africa.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  this  species 
differed  from  the  quagga  in  having  the  whole  or  the 
greater  part  of  the  body  striped,  as  well  as  by  the  more 
brilliant  coloration  and  the  pattern  of  the  striping.  One 
very  remarkable  feature  in  connection  with  this  species 
must  not  be  passed  over  without  notice.  In  the  original 
and  typical  race  (now  nearly  extinct),  which  was  obtained 
just  north  of  the  Vaal  River,  in  British  Bechuanaland, 
and  therefore  immediately  adjacent  to  the  northern  limits 
of  the  quagga,  the  whole  of  the  legs,  as  well  as  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  hindquarters,  are  devoid  of 
stripes.  In  this  respect  the  typical  form  of  the  Transvaal 
species  comes  much  nearer  to  the  last-mentioned  animal 
than  do  the  races  from  more  northern  districts,  in  which 
the  hindquarters  and  legs  are  more  or  less  completely 
striped ;  the  striping  attaining  its  fullest  development  in 
the  most  northern  race  of  all,  the  so-called  Grant's  zebra 
of  Somaliland  and  Abyssinia. 

Of  course,  these  gradations  towards  the  quagga  type  of 
coloration  of  the  more  southern  representatives  of  Burchell's 
zebra,  as  well  as  the  differences  in  the  coloration  of  the 
quagga  itself  as  compared  with  zebras,  have  a  meaning 
and  a  reason,  if  only  they  could  be  discovered.  And  it 
may  be  remarked  incidentally  in  this  place  that  unless  we 
attempt  to  account  rationally  for  such  variations,  there  is 
little  justification  for  the  modern  practice  of  distinguishing 
between  the  local  races  of  variable  species. 

The  striping  of  the  zebras,  which  there  is  considerable 
cause  for  regarding  as  the  primitive  type  of  coloration  of 
the  horse  family  in  general,  is  evidently  of  a  protective  nature. 


THE   EXTINCT   QUAGGA  259 

It  was  stated  some  years  ago  that  zebras  a  short  distance 
off  were  absolutely  invisible  in  bright  moonlight,  and  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that  the  same  is  to  a  great  extent 
the  case  in  sunlight.  For  some  reason  or  other  the  species 
inhabiting  the  plains  (not  the  mountains,  be  it  observed)  of 
South  Africa  have  tended  to  discard  this  striped  coloration, 
the  southern  race  of  Burchell's  zebra  exhibiting  the  first,  and 
the  quagga  the  second  stage  in  this  transformation.  In 
North  Africa  the  transformation  has  been  carried  a  stage 
farther,  the  wild  asses  of  the  Red  Sea  littoral  having 
discarded  their  stripes  almost  completely  in  favour  of  a 
uniform  grey  or  tawny  livery.  In  this  part  of  the  continent 
there  is  now  no  trace  of  a  transitional  form,  whatever  may 
have  been  the  case  in  the  past,  and  we  thus  have  the 
sharp  contrast  between  the  uniformly  coloured  wild  asses 
of  the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  fully 
striped  zebras  of  Abyssinia  and  Southern  Somaliland  on 
the  other. 

Whether  there  is  anything  in  the  climatic  and  other 
physical  conditions  of  the  plains  of  Cape  Colony  which 
renders  a  partially  striped  species  less  conspicuous  than  one 
in  which  the  striping  is  fully  developed,  the  disappearance  of 
the  quagga  makes  it  now  impossible  to  determine.  But 
observation  might  advantageously  be  directed  to  the  com- 
parative invisibility,  or  otherwise,  of  the  wild  asses  of  the 
Red  Sea  littoral  and  the  fully  striped  zebras  of  the  interior, 
and  whether  this  would  be  affected  in  any  degree  by  the 
transference  of  the  one  to  the  habitat  of  the  other.  What- 
ever be  the  explanation,  the  fact  remains  that  at  the 
opposite  extremities  of  Africa  some  of  the  members  of 
the  equine  tribe  have  developed  a  tendency  to  the  replace- 
ment of  a  striped  livery  by  one  of  a  uniform  and  sober 
hue,  and  that  in  the  south  of  the  continent  this  tendency 


260  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

exists  only  in  the  species  inhabiting  the  plains.  Moreover, 
it  is  only  in  South  Africa  that  the  transitional  form  is  met 
with,  and  only  in  the  north  of  the  continent  that  the 
striping  has  been  completely  lost. 

But,  as  I  have  already  mentioned  in  earlier  articles,  this 
is  only  one  phase  of  a  general  tendency  among  mammals 
to  replace  their  spots  or  stripes  by  a  uniformly  coloured 
coat. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  one  has  ever  attempted  to 
give  a  philosophical  reason  for  this  remarkable  tendency. 
But  till  an  adequate  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  be 
forthcoming,  naturalists,  to  repeat  the  words  of  a  well- 
known  ornithologist,  have  left  half  their  work  (and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  the  more  important  half)  undone.  Without 
ascertaining  the  reason  for  phenomena  of  this  nature,  our 
zoological  work  is,  indeed,  as  though  a  man  were  content 
with  describing  the  mechanism  of  a  complicated  machine 
without  an  inkling  as  to  its  use. 

One  word  more,  and  I  have  done.  To  the  systematic 
zoologist,  the  quagga  is  an  animal  of  special  interest  as 
affording  evidence  of  the  intimate  relationship  between 
the  zebras  and  the  wild  asses.  Although,  judging  from 
its  geographical  distribution,  it  was  probably  not  the  actual 
transitional  form  between  the  two  groups,  yet  it  serves  to 
show  the  manner  in  which  the  transition  was  effected. 


ANCIENT    AND   MODERN   HIPPOPOTAMUSES 

THE  popular  conception  of  hippopotamuses  is  that  they 
are  clumsily  built  creatures  of  enormous  size  and  bulk, 
spending  the  greater  part  of  their  time  in  the  rivers  and 
lakes  of  Africa,  where  they  are  more  at  home  than  on  land, 
diving  with  the  readiness  of  a  crocodile,  and  even  walking 
on  the  river  bed  with  their  bodies  submerged  many  feet 
below  the  surface  of  the  water.  As  regards  the  common 
hippopotamus  (Hippopotamus  amphibius),  which  is  the  one 
that  alone  has  been  exhibited  in  our  Zoological  Gardens, 
this  conception  is  a  perfectly  true  one.  As,  however, 
is  so  frequently  the  case  in  popular  zoology,  this  concep- 
tion, excellent  as  it  is  so  far  as  the  common  species 
are  concerned,  does  not  cover  the  whole  ground,  for  it 
happens  that  there  exists  in  Liberia  a  second  species  of 
the  genus,  known  as  the  pigmy  hippopotamus  (//. 
liberiensis\  differing  not  only  in  size,  but  likewise  in 
habits,  from  the  one  with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  In 
place  of  a  total  length  of  about  eleven  feet,  measured  in 
a  straight  line,  and  weighing  probably  between  three  and 
four  tons,  the  pigmy  hippopotamus  is  not  larger  than  a 
good-sized  wild  boar,  although  it  has  the  short  and  stout 
limbs  of  its  gigantic  cousin,  with  which  it  also  agrees  to 
a  certain  extent  in  the  relatively  large  size  of  its  head. 
As  regards  its  mode  of  life,  this  species  differs,  however, 
in  toto  from  the  common  one.  Instead  of  passing  at  least 

261 


262  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

as  much  of  its  time  in  the  water  as  on  land,  and  never 
living  away  from  rivers  or  lakes,  the  pigmy  hippopotamus 
is  an  inhabitant  of  the  dense  tropical  forests  of  that  part 
of  Western  Africa  which  is  its  home,  where  it  apparently 
leads  a  life  very  similar  to  that  of  wild  pigs,  wallowing 
in  swamps  after  the  manner  of  those  animals,  but  apparently 
not  habitually  frequenting  rivers,  though  it  is  doubtless, 
like  almost  all  mammals,  able  to  swim  well  when  the 
necessity  arises.  Moreover,  in  place  of  associating  in  large 
herds  after  the  manner  of  the  common  species,  and  never 
moving  far  from  one  particular  locality,  the  Liberian 
hippopotamus  is  a  comparatively  solitary  creature,  going 
about  at  most  only  in  pairs,  and  wandering  long  distances 
through  the  woods,  where  it  seems  to  have  no  definite 
place  of  abode.  At  the  present  day  the  creature  appears 
to  be  very  rare,  and  there  are  even  rumours  that  it  is 
extinct. 

Out  of  a  large  number  of  representatives  of  the  genus 
once  spread  widely  over  the  Old  World,  the  common 
and  pigmy  hippopotamuses,  both  of  which  are  confined  to 
Africa,  are  the  only  species  which  have  survived  to  the 
present  day ;  and  the  reader  will  at  once  see,  when  we 
take  into  consideration  the  probable  habits  of  the  extinct 
kinds,  how  fortunate  it  is  that  these  two  widely  different 
forms  have  been  preserved.  Were  there  only  the  common 
species,  we  should  have  had  no  conception  that  any  hippo- 
potamus possessed  the  habits  characterising  the  smaller 
kinds,  and  might  thus  have  been  led  into  drawing  very 
erroneous  inferences  as  to  the  mode  of  life  and  habitat 
of  fossil  species. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  common  hippopotamus  is 
so  familiar  that  but  little  is  necessary  in  the  way  of  descrip- 
tion. It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  the  enormous  size 


ANCIENT   AND   MODERN   HIPPOPOTAMUSES     263 

of  the  head,  and  especially  the  great  width  of  the  mouth, 
the  prominent  position  of  the  eyes  and  nostrils,  the  minute 
ears,  bulky  body,  short  and  stout  limbs,  and  short  tail, 
are  among  the  most  striking  external  features  of  the 
creature.  The  presence  of  hoofs  (four  in  number  on  each 
foot)  shows  that  the  hippopotamus  belongs  to  the  great 
order  of  hoofed,  or  ungulate,  mammals,  and  the  thickness 
of  its  nearly  naked  hide  led  the  older  naturalists  to  place 
it  among  what  used  to  be  called  the  pachyderms.  It  has 
been  shown,  however,  by  anatomical  investigations  that  the 
group  thus  designated,  which  included  such  totally  different 
forms  as  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  and  hippopotamuses,  is 
an  entirely  artificial  one,  and  that  the  last-named  animals, 
together  with  their  near  relatives  the  pigs,  are  much  more 
closely  connected  with  the  ruminants. 

If  the  reader  desires  to  know  why  zoologists  place  such 
very  dissimilar-looking  animals  as  the  hippopotamus  and 
the  giraffe  in  the  same  great  group,  while  they  sunder 
from  the  former  the  apparently  more  similar  rhinoceroses, 
it  may  be  replied  that  this  is  largely  due  to  the  difference 
in  the  structure  of  the  feet  of  the  two  groups.  In  that 
the  bones  of  the  skeleton  of  the  two  middle  toes  are 
symmetrical  to  a  line  drawn  between  them,  the  hippo- 
potamuses and  pigs  resemble  the  ruminants,  whereas  the 
rhinoceroses  agree  with  horses  in  having  the  middle  toe 
(which  is  alone  present  in  the  latter)  symmetrical  in  itself. 
One  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  ruminants  is 
the  circumstance  that  in  the  lower  part  of  the  leg  the 
two  middle  toes  are  supported  by  a  single  bone  known 
as  the  cannon-bone,  which  consists  anatomically  of  two 
originally  distinct  elements  welded  together,  while  the 
supporting  bones  of  the  small  lateral  toes  are  incompletely 
developed.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  examine  the  skeleton 


264  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  a  hippopotamus,  we  shall  find  that  in  each  foot  the  four 
nearly  equal-sized  toes  are  severally  supported  by  four 
complete  and  distinct  bones,  known  in  the  fore-limb  as 
the  metacarpals  and  in  the  hind-limb  as  the  metatarsals  ; 
and  it  will  be  obvious  that  this  is  a  much  simpler  or  more 
generalised  type  of  foot-structure  than  that  which  charac- 
terises the  ruminants.  If,  again,  we  contrast  the  foot  of  a 
hippopotamus  with  that  of  a  pig,  we  shall  find  that  whereas 
in  the  latter  the  lateral  pair  of  hoofs  are  considerably 
smaller  than  the  middle  pair  and  do  not  touch  the  ground 
when  the  animal  is  walking  on  a  hard  surface,  in  the 
former  the  two  pairs  are  nearly  equal  in  size  and  are  all 
applied  to  the  ground  in  walking.  In  this  respect  the 
hippopotamus  is  the  most  primitive  of  all  the  even-toed 
hoofed  mammals  that  have  survived  to  the  present  day, 
and  is,  therefore,  a  creature  of  special  interest  to  the 
believer  in  evolution.  It  is,  indeed,  a  member  of  the  great 
group  from  which  the  ruminants  are  considered  to  have 
originated  ;  although,  if  the  reader  should  be  led  from  this 
statement  to  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  a  hippopotamus 
was  in  any  sense  an  ancestor  of  the  giraffe,  he  would  be 
4ed  into  a  grievous  error.  As  is  the  case  with  nearly  all 
existing  animals  of  a  primitive  type,  the  hippopotamus,  in 
place  of  being  an  ancestral  form,  is  a  side  branch  from 
the  original  stock,  which  has  developed  certain  specialised 
features  not  found  in  the  latter.  To  show  that  this  is  the 
case,  we  have  but  to  study  the  teeth  of  the  various  species 
of  hippopotami,  which  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  show 
conclusively  that  those  of  the  ruminants  could  not  have 
been  derived  from  them. 

In  the  group  of  animals  last  mentioned  the  molar-teeth 
have  crescent-shaped  columns  on  their  grinding  surfaces. 
Extinct  animals  show  a  complete  passage  from  such  teeth 


ANCIENT   AND   MODERN   HIPPOPOTAMUSES     265 

to  a  simple  type  not  unlike  that  now  found  in  the  pigs. 
The  molar-teeth  of  the  hippopotamus,  though  of  the  same 
general  plan  as  those  of  the  latter,  have,  however,  their 
four  main  columns,  when  partially  worn,  with  a  distinctly 
trefoil-shaped  pattern ;  and  it  is  quite  evident  that  such 
a  tooth  could  never  have  given  rise  to  the  crescent-teeth 
of  the  ruminants.  The  hippopotamus  molar  is,  indeed, 
quite  peculiar,  and  its  structure  is  so  well  marked  and 
characteristic  that  any  person  who  has  once  seen  a 
specimen  could  immediately  identify  any  example  that 
might  come  under  his  notice. 

As  regards  their  front  teeth,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
hippopotamuses  have  an  enormous  pair  of  curved  tusks  or 
canines  in  each  jaw.  In  the  common  species,  between 
these  huge  tusks  are  two  pairs  of  incisors,  those  of  the 
upper  jaw  being  of  nearly  equal  size,  whereas  in  the  lower 
jaw,  where  these  teeth  are  cylindrical  and  project  nearly 
horizontally  forwards,  the  central  ones  are  very  much 
larger  than  the  lateral  pair.  If,  however,  we  examine 
the  lower  jaw  of  the  pigmy  Liberian  species,  we  shall 
find  that  normally  there  is  but  a  single  pair  of  incisors 
between  the  tusks,  which  would  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  animal  is  a  more  specialised  type  than  its  larger 
relative.  The  truth  of  this  inference  is  curiously  confirmed 
by  the  circumstance  that  individuals  of  the  Liberian  hippo- 
potamus are  occasionally  met  with  in  which  there  are  two 
incisor-teeth  on  one  side,  while  on  the  other  there  is  but 
the  single  tooth  ;  this  being  an  excellent  example  of  what 
evolutionists  term  reversion  or  atavism.  This,  however, 
by  no  means  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  variation  in  the 
number  of  these  teeth  obtaining  in  the  group  under 
consideration  ;  but  before  proceeding  farther  it  is  necessary 
to  remark  that,  since  in  ordinary  mammals  the  typical  or 


266  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

full  complement  of  incisor-teeth  consists  of  three  pairs,  it  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  one  pair  has  been  lost  in  the  common 
species.  That  such  is  really  the  case  is  demonstrated  by 
the  extinct  Siwalik  hippopotamus  (H.  sivalensis)  of  the 
Pliocene  deposits  of  the  outer  ranges  of  the  Himalaya. 
Here  between  the  two  large  tusks  there  are  three  pairs  of 
incisor-teeth,  which  differ  from  those  of  the  common  species 
in  being  all  of  nearly  equal  size ;  and  if  we  were  to 
examine  the  upper  jaw,  we  should  find  that  in  this  also 
there  is  the  same  number  of  teeth.  In  the  presence  of 
these  three  pairs  of  incisors  the  Siwalik  hippopotamus 
resembles  the  pig,  from  which  it  departs  less  widely  than 
does  the  common  species  in  that  these  teeth  are  relatively 
smaller  and  also  of  nearly  equal  size.  The  Siwalik  hippo- 
potamus must  accordingly  be  regarded  as  a  less  specialised 
species  than  either  of  its  living  cousins ;  and  since,  together 
with  an  allied  species  from  the  Irrawady  Valley  known  as 
the  Burmese  hippopotamus  (H.  iravaticus),  it  is  the  oldest 
representative  of  the  genus,  its  generalised  features  are 
precisely  what  evolutionary  considerations  would  have  led 
us  to  expect. 

There  is,  however,  yet  another  curious  point  in  con- 
nection with  these  teeth  demanding  a  moment's  notice. 
From  the  evidence  of  the  two  species  mentioned,  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  determine  which  of  the  three  pairs  of 
lower  incisors  found  in  the  Siwalik  hippopotamus  have 
disappeared  in  the  common  species.  Fortunately,  however, 
palaeontology  here  once  more  comes  to  our  aid,  showing 
not  only  which  pair  has  been  lost,  but  how  the  loss  was 
brought  about.  From  the  gravels  of  the  Narbada  Valley 
in  Central  India,  which  are  probably  intermediate  in  age 
between  the  Pliocene  deposits  yielding  remains  of  the 
Siwalik  hippopotamus  and  the  brick-earths  of  our  own 


ANCIENT  AND   MODERN   HIPPOPOTAMUSES     267 

country  in  which  occur  those  of  the  common  African  species, 
there  are  found  two  extinct  members  of  the  genus,  one 
known  as  the  Narbada  hippopotamus  (H.  namadicus),  and 
the  other  as  the  Indian  hippopotamus  (H.  palaeindicus).  In 
the  former  of  these  the  lower  incisors  are  similar  in  size 
and  number  to  those  of  the  Siwalik  species ;  but  in  the 
latter,  while  the  inner  and  outer  pairs  are  very  large, 
there  occurs  on  each  side  between  them  a  minute  and 
rudimentary  tooth,  squeezed  out  from  the  general  line  to 
the  upper  margin  of  the  jaw,  and  evidently  just  about  to 
disappear  altogether.  We  have  thus  decisive  evidence  that 
the  missing  pair  of  lower  incisor-teeth  in  the  common 
hippopotamus  is  the  second ;  and  we  further  see  how  a 
complete  transition  can  be  traced,  as  regards  the  number 
of  these  teeth,  from  the  Siwalik  species  through  the 
common  one  to  the  Liberian  hippopotamus.  While  it  is 
possible  that  the  African  hippopotamus  may  have  been 
directly  derived  from  the  Siwalik  species,  it  is  quite  clear 
that  the  pigmy  hippopotamus  is  not  the  descendant  of  its 
giant  existing  cousin. 

With  regard  to  the  geographical  distribution  of  the  genus, 
we  have  already  said  that  the  two  living  species  are  confined 
to  Africa,  to  which  it  may  be  added  that  there  is  no  record 
of  their  having  ever  occurred  in  the  districts  lying  to  the 
north  of  the  Sahara  during  the  historic  period.  They  are, 
therefore,  essentially  inhabitants  of  what  naturalists  term 
the  Ethiopian  region,  although  they  are  quite  unknown  in 
the  island  of  Madagascar,  which  belongs  to  the  same 
zoological  province.  So  far  as  I  am  aware,  there  is  no 
evidence  that  the  pigmy  species  ever  ranged  beyond  its 
present  habitat  of  Liberia,  although  the  case  is  very  different 
with  regard  to  the  range  of  the  common  species.  At  the 
present  day  this  animal  is  found  from  the  Cape  Colony 


268  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

northwards  to  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  and  it  extends 
westwards  to  Senegal ;  but  while  for  several  centuries  it 
has  been  very  seldom  met  with  on  the  Nile  below  the 
entrance  of  the  Atbara  and  Blue  Nile,  there  is  abundant 
evidence  that  in  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs  it  was  common 
in  Egypt,  where  in  the  temple  of  Edfu,  as  well  as  several 
other  buildings,  there  are  frescoes  representing  the  mode  in 
which  it  was  hunted  and  speared.  That  the  hippopotamus 
is  the  animal  indicated  in  the  Book  of  Job  under  the  name 
of  behemoth  is,  according  to  Canon  Tristram,  undoubted, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Jews  were  acquainted 
with  it  otherwise  than  during  their  sojourn  in  Egypt.  It 
is  true,  indeed,  that  the  writer  just  mentioned  suggests 
that  its  range  may  have  extended  eastwards  as  far  as 
Palestine,  but  this  is  mere  conjecture,  and  had  the  creature 
ever  lived  there  the  expeditions  which  have  from  time  to 
time  explored  that  country  ought  to  have  found  some  of 
its  remains.  In  the  Pleistocene  and  upper  Pliocene  deposits 
of  Southern  and  Central  Europe  there  occur,  however, 
numerous  remains  of  a  hippopotamus  which  cannot  be  speci- 
fically distinguished  from  the  existing  African  form,  although 
it  is  generally  of  rather  larger  size.  The  difference  in  size 
was  at  one  time  thought  to  indicate  that  the  fossil  form 
was  a  distinct  species,  but  the  discovery  many  years  ago 
of  a  half-fossilised  jaw  in  the  alluvium  of  the  Nile  near 
Kalabshi,  in  Nubia,  showed  that  in  former  times  the 
African  hippopotamus  attained  dimensions  as  large  as  the 
European  form.  In  England  the  hippopotamus  ranged  at 
least  as  far  north  as  Leeds,  and  it  is  a  remarkable  circum- 
stance that  in  many  places  its  remains  have  been  found 
in  association  with  those  of  the  reindeer.  How  animals 
now  inhabiting  countries  with  such  totally  different  climatic 
conditions  as  tropical  Africa  and  Lapland  could  have  lived 


ANCIENT   AND   MODERN   HIPPOPOTAMUSES     269 

in  the  same  country  at  the  same  time,  is  very  difficult  to 
understand.  If  the  hippopotamus  had  been  different  from 
the  living  African  one,  we  might  have  regarded  it  as  a 
terrestrial  species,  like  that  of  Liberia,  and  thus  perchance 
capable  of  standing  a  colder  climate ;  but  being  identical 
with  the  former,  we  are  perforce  compelled  to  believe 
that  its  habits  were  similar,  and  that  in  its  home  the 
rivers  must  have  been  more  or  less  free  from  ice  through- 
out the  year.  Whatever  may  be  the  true  explanation  of 
the  difficulty,  it  is  pretty  clear  that  no  theory  of  summer 
and  winter  migrations  will  hold  good,  as  the  hippopotamus 
is  essentially  a  resident  animal. 

Returning  once  more  to  Africa,  we  may  notice  that  in 
Algeria,  where  the  genus  is  now  unrepresented,  a  small 
species  (//.  hipponensis)  flourished  during  the  Pleistocene 
period ;  this  species  being  distinguished  by  carrying  three 
pairs  of  lower  incisor  teeth,  which  differed  from  those  of 
other  members  of  the  genus  in  having  their  enamel 
smooth  and  their  extremities  somewhat  expanded,  thus 
approximating  to  the  corresponding  teeth  of  the  pigs. 
Equally  noteworthy  is  the  occurrence  of  another  species, 
Lemerle's  hippopotamus  (H.  lemerlei\  in  Madagascar, 
where  its  remains  are  common  in  the  great  marsh  of 
Ambulisatra.  Somewhat  intermediate  between  the  common 
and  the  Siwalik  species,  this  rather  small  hippopotamus 
had  sometimes  three  and  sometimes  two  pairs  of  lower 
incisors.  Certain  traditions  current  among  the  Malagasy 
suggest  that  this  species  may  have  lived  within  the  historic 
period,  and  it  may  even  be  one  of  several  mysterious  animals 
alluded  to  by  an  early  European  voyager. 

In  addition  to  the  common  species,  Southern  Europe, 
inclusive  of  Cyprus,  Malta,  and  some  of  the  other  Medi- 
terranean islands,  was  the  home  of  several  smaller  species, 


270  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

one  of  which,  the  Cyprian  H.  minutus,  had  much  the 
proportions  of  the  Liberian  species,  although  its  molar- 
teeth  are  of  a  simpler  type.  Possibly  these  small  forms 
may  have  been  more  or  less  completely  terrestrial  in  their 
habits. 

The  three  Indian  species  have  been  already  sufficiently 
discussed,  while  mention  has  been  likewise  made  of  the 
Burmese  hippopotamus.  The  latter  species,  by  the  way, 
was  decidedly  pig-like  in  many  parts  of  its  structure,  and 
may  well,  therefore,  have  been  a  marsh-haunting  animal. 
It  was  at  one  time  thought  that  one  of  the  later  Indian 
hippopotamuses  was  an  unknown  animal  referred  to  in 
Sanscrit  literature,  but  further  investigation  has  shown 
this  view  to  be  untenable.  Eastwards  of  Burma,  we  are 
unaware  that  there  is  any  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
these  animals,  and  they  appear  to  have  been  always 
unknown  in  the  New  World. 

Although  it  is  possible  that  in  Madagascar  Lemerle's 
hippopotamus  may  have  been  exterminated  by  human 
agency,  such  an  explanation  will  not  hold  good  with  regard 
to  the  other  fossil  species.  So  far  as  can  be  seen,  India  and 
Burma  are  now  in  every  way  as  well  fitted  to  be  the 
dwelling-places  of  hippopotamuses,  giraffes,  and  ostriches  as 
they  were  during  the  Pliocene  period,  when  those  animals 
either  wallowed  in  their  lakes  and  rivers,  or  stalked  over 
their  plains  ;  and  as  the  former  countries  have  not  been 
completely  swept  during  the  interval  by  a  glacial  period, 
it  seems  impossible  to  divine  the  reason  why  these  creatures 
should  have  so  completely  vanished  from  the  one  area 
and  have  survived  in  full  strength  in  the  other. 


THE    DEER    OF    THE    PEKING    PARKS 

OCTOBER  I2th,  1860,  will  always  be  memorable  as  the  date 
of  the  burning  of  the  Imperial  "  Summer  Palace "  in  the 
Yuangming  Yuan,  the  wonderful  pleasaunce  situated  to  the 
north-west  of  Peking.  The  Yuangming,  which  at  the  time 
had  apparently  been  unvisited  by  Europeans,  occupies  an 
area  of  many  hundred  acres,  and  is  in  fact  a  park  diversified 
with  lakes,  and  containing  a  collection  of  buildings  of 
immense  extent,  among  which  was  the  Summer  Palace. 
The  most  beautiful  part  is  the  forest  clothing  the  flanks  of 
the  Hiang-chan  hills,  which  attain  a  height  of  a  thousand 
feet,  and  from  which  may  be  viewed  at  the  foot  the  ex- 
tensive lake,  and  in  the  far  distance  the  walls  of  Peking 
enveloped  in  a  smoky  haze.  Dotted  through  the  gardens 
were  temples,  lodges,  and  pagodas,  groves,  grottos,  lakes, 
bridges,  terraces,  and  artificial  hills.  "It  certainly  was," 
writes  a  spectator,  "one  of  the  most  beautiful  scenes  I 
had  ever  beheld."  In  the  Summer  Palace  were  gathered 
together  all  the  treasures  and  curiosities  accumulated  by 
the  reigning  dynasties  of  China  during  untold  centuries. 
All  these  perished  in  the  conflagration,  which  lasted  two 
days.  Whether  this  burning  of  the  palace,  which  was 
ordered  by  Lord  Elgin  as  a  punishment  for  the  atrocities 
inflicted  by  the  Chinese  on  British  subjects,  was  justifiable, 
it  is  not  our  province  to  inquire.  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy,  in 
his  "  History  of  Our  Own  Times,"  considers  that  it  was. 

971 


272  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

All  that  concerns  us  here  is  the  fact  that  among  the  loot 
sent  home  from  the  destruction  of  the  Yuangming  Yuan 
were  the  skins  and  antlers  of  certain  deer  which  had  been 
shot  in  the  gardens.  These  specimens,  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  appear  to  have  been  obtained  by  Colonel  Saul, 
although  Consul  Swinhoe  was  the  gentleman  by  whom  they 
were  sent  to  this  country. 

Although  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  record  that 
such  was  the  case,  these  specimens  may  be  taken  as  an 
indication  that  among  the  other  attractions  of  the  grounds 
of  the  Summer  Palace  were  herds  of  deer,  kept  either  for 
the  purposes  of  sport  or  to  enhance  the  beauty  of  the 
landscape.  The  best  of  the  three  specimens  sent  home 
was  a  young  stag  in  the  winter  coat,  of  which  a  coloured 
figure  was  given  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological 
Society  of  London  for  1861.  By  the  late  Dr.  Gray,  then 
keeper  of  the  Zoological  Department  of  the  British  Museum, 
this  deer  was  regarded  as  belonging  to  an  ill-defined  species 
named  many  years  before.  Two  years  later  this  identifi- 
cation was  disputed  by  Mr.  Swinhoe,  by  whom  it  was 
regarded  as  representing  a  new  species,  for  which  the 
name  Cervus  hortulorum — the  deer  of  the  (Summer  Palace) 
Gardens — was,  appropriately  enough,  suggested. 

For  many  years  this  species  was  regarded  as  inseparable 
from  one  inhabiting  Manchuria,  which  is  now  known  to 
be  a  very  different  animal.  But  among  the  deer  now 
living  in  the  Duke  of  Bedford's  park  at  Woburn  are  a 
herd  of  a  very  beautiful  species  from  Northern  Manchuria, 
which  is  now  ascertained  to  be  identical  with  Mr.  Swin- 
hoe's  Cervus  hortulorum.  These  Peking  deer  (as  it  has 
now  been  agreed  to  call  the  species)  are  remarkable  for 
the  extraordinary  difference  between  their  summer  and 
winter  dress — a  difference  so  great  that  persons  who  have 


From  a  photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford.} 

A  PEKING  STAG  WITH  THE  ANTLERS  IN  VELVET. 

{To  face  p.  272 


THE   DEER   OF   THE   PEKING   PARKS          273 

seen  them  at  one  season  may  well  be  excused  for  not 
recognising  them  at  the  other.  In  the  summer  coat,  as 
shown  in  the-  plate,  they  are  of  a  brilliant  reddish  chest- 
nut, profusely  spotted  with  white  ;  in  winter,  on  the  other 
hand,  when  the  coat  of  the  old  stags  becomes  very  long 
and  shaggy,  they  are  uniformly  umber-brown,  although 
traces  of  spots  may  persist  in  the  younger  stags  and 
hinds.  The  old  stags  are  but  little  inferior  in  size  to  red- 
deer,  with  which  species  certain  hinds  from  the  Summer 
Palace  were  indeed  identified  by  Mr.  Swinhoe,  who  quite 
failed  to  recognise  that  they  were  really  the  adult  form 
of  his  "  garden-deer." 

In  England  the  Peking  deer  seems  to  thrive  as  well 
as  red  or  fallow  deer,  and  in  time  we  may  hope  to  see  it 
established  in  many  of  our  parks. 

But  the  Yuangming  Yuan  was  not  the  only  park  where 
deer  were  kept  by  the  Chinese  Emperors.  To  the  south 
of  Peking  lies  a  park  known  as  the  Non  Hai-tzu  (or 
Nanhai-tze),  far  exceeding  in  extent  the  Yuangming  Yuan, 
the  brick  wall  by  which  it  is  enclosed  being  forty-five 
miles  in  circuit.  This  imperial  hunting-park,  as  it  is 
commonly  called  by  Englishmen,  is  separated  from  the 
city  by  a  plain,  which  is  marshy  in  places,  and  gives  rise 
to  a  river  flowing  in  part  of  its  course  through  the  park 
itself.  The  whole  tract  is  thickly  forested,  but  villages  and 
military  posts  are  dotted  here  and  there  in  the  clearings. 

The  park  was  in  former  days  strictly  guarded,  and  no 
Europeans  were  allowed  entrance,  although  there  are 
reports  that  by  the  aid  of  disguises  a  few  entered  from 
time  to  time.  According  to  rumour  the  park  was  the 
home  of  large  herds  of  deer  of  various  kinds,  as  well  as 
of  flocks  of  the  Mongolian  gazelle,  or  yellow  sheep,  as  it 
is  called  by  the  Chinese. 

18 


274  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Till  the  year  1865  naturalists  had  no  idea  as  to  the 
species  of  deer  to  be  found  in  the  Non  Hai-tzu,  the 
Anglo-French  expedition  of  1860  having  confined  their 
attention  to  Peking  and  the  Yuangming  Yuan.  In  February 
of  the  former  year,  however,  the  well-known  French 
missionary,  explorer,  and  naturalist,  Pere  Armand  David, 
obtained  an  opportunity  of  looking  over  the  wall,  and  was 
much  astonished  at  the  sight  which  met  his  eyes.  In 
addition  to  Mongolian  gazelles,  he  saw  herds  of  a  species 
of  deer  which  he  then  regarded  as  an  unknown  kind  of 
reindeer,  although  he  described  it  as  somewhat  donkey- 
like  in  appearance,  with  a  long  well-haired  tail.  At  that 
season  of  the  year  the  stags  were  without  antlers.  At 
this  time  the  energetic  missionary  was  quite  unable  to 
obtain  a  specimen  of  the  new  deer,  but  by  bribing  the 
Tatar  guards  of  the  park  he  succeeded,  in  January  of  the 
following  year,  in  acquiring  the  skins  of  a  stag  and  hind. 
Meantime  the  French  Minister  at  Peking  had  been  en- 
deavouring to  procure  a  living  pair  of  this  deer  by 
diplomatic  means,  and  in  February  of  that  year  succeeded 
in  his  efforts.  The  stag,  however,  unfortunately  died  soon 
after  its  removal  from  the  park,  and  its  skin  was  sent  to 
Paris  with  those  of  the  two  specimens  obtained  from  the 
Tatar  guards. 

When  these  specimens  arrived  at  the  Paris  Museum 
they  were  examined  by  Prof.  Milne-Edwards,  who  in  due 
course  described  them  as  representing  a  new  genus  and 
species  of  deer,  under  the  name  of  Elaphurus  davidianus. 
By  the  Chinese,  it  may  be  well  to  mention,  the  animal  is 
known  by  the  name  of  mi-lou,  or,  more  commonly,  sen- 
pou-siang. 

The  accompanying  photograph  gives  an  excellent  idea 
of  the  external  appearance  of  the  stags  of  this  very 


From  a  photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford.} 

PERE  DAVID'S  MI-LOU  DEER. 
The  antlers  are  not  completely  free  from  velvet. 


\_Tofacep.  274 


THE   DEER   OF  THE   PEKING   PARKS         275 

remarkable  and  interesting  species  of  deer.  To  describe 
its  characteristics  in  anything  like  detail  would  obviously 
be  quite  out  "of  place  in  an  article  of  the  present  nature, 
and  it  will  suffice  to  allude  to  a  few  of  its  more  striking 
peculiarities.  One  feature,  by  which  the  stags  of  this 
species  differ  from  those  of  all  other  Old  World  deer,  save 
the  elk  and  the  roe,  is  that  the  antlers  are  of  the  forked 
type — that  is  to  say,  in  place  of  having  a  forwardly  pro- 
jecting brow-tine  immediately  above  their  base,  the  main 
shaft,  or  beam,  is  undivided  for  a  short  distance,  and  then 
splits  in  a  fork-like  manner.  A  peculiarity  of  the  mi-lou 
deer,  and  one  whereby  it  differs  from  all  the  numerous 
species  of  American  deer  carrying  antlers  of  the  forked 
type,  is  that  the  hind  prong  of  the  main  fork  forms  an 
undivided  tine  of  great  length  directed  backwards.  The 
front  prong,  on  the  other  hand,  is  forked  at  least  once, 
and  has  but  little  forward  inclination  till  the  point  of 
bifurcation  is  reached.  The  long  donkey-like  tail,  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Abbe  David  at  his  first  sight 
of  the  animal,  is  particularly  well  displayed  in  the  photo- 
graph. The  general  colour  of  the  coat  is  fawn-grey, 
becoming  lighter  on  the  face,  rump,  inner  sides  of  the 
limbs,  and  under-parts.  Unlike  the  majority  of  deer, 
there  is  but  little  change  in  the  colour  of  the  coat  accord- 
ing to  season.  One  very  curious  peculiarity  displayed  by 
the  stags  in  the  herd  of  mi-lou  deer  at  Woburn  Abbey 
is  that  they  shed  and  renew  their  antlers  twice  a  year, 
instead  of  once,  as  in  other  deer.  Whether,  however,  this 
peculiarity  has  always  been  inherent  in  the  species,  or 
whether  it  is  the  result  of  long  domestication,  is  impossible 
to  say,  for  the  species  is  quite  unknown  in  a  wild  state. 
Indeed,  it  cannot  now  be  ascertained  whether  this  double 
change  of  antlers  took  place  among  the  herds  irr  the 


276  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Non  Hai-tzu,   or  even  in   the   specimens   first   brought  to 
Europe. 

The  date  of  the  introduction  of  these  deer  into  the 
imperial  hunting-park  is  probably  very  remote,  seeing 
that,  as  already  said,  they  have  never  been  found  wild  in 
any  part  of  Asia  by  Europeans.  It  is  true  that,  according 
to  Dr.  S.  W.  Bushell,  to  whose  account  reference  is  again 
made  in  the  sequel,  a  Chinese  writer  of  the  latter  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  mentions  Kashgaria  as  the  native 
country  of  these  deer ;  but  even  if  that  be  correct,  the 
species  may  have  been  exterminated  there  centuries  ago. 
Anyway,  there  is  but  little  hope  of  its  survival  in  that 
district  at  the  present  day. 

As  China  became  slowly  opened  up  to  European 
enterprise,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  specimens  of  the 
mi-lou  deer  gradually  decreased,  and  in  August,  1869,  a 
male  and  female  were  received  at  the  menagerie  of  the 
Zoological  Society  as  a  gift  from  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock. 
A  second  pair  were  acquired  by  purchase  in  1883,  since 
the  death  of  which  the  species  appears  to  have  been 
unrepresented  in  the  Society's  collection.  Meanwhile 
specimens  were  from  time  to  time  received  by  various 
menageries  on  the  Continent ;  and  the  species  has  bred  at 
the  gardens  of  the  Socie~te  d'Acclimatation  at  Paris  and 
elsewhere. 

The  subsequent  history  of  this  interesting  and  remark- 
able species  is  extremely  sad,  no  one  apparently  having 
had  the  least  idea  that  it  was  on  the  point  of  extermina- 
tion until  too  late.  No  definite  statements  are  made  by 
the  earlier  travellers  as  to  the  numbers  of  these  deer  in 
the  Non  Hai-tzu  when  they  first  came  under  the  observa- 
tion of  Europeans.  Writing,  however,  in  the  summer  of 
1 898  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Zoological  Society,  Dr.  Bushell 


THE   DEER   OF  THE  PEKING   PARKS          277 

stated  that  he  had  formerly  ridden  among  the  herds  which 
swarmed  in  the  imperial  park,  where  they  appear  to  have 
been  reserved  for  the  sport  of  the  Court,  and  were  care- 
fully protected.  Whether,  in  later  years,  less  care  was 
taken  than  formerly  to  see  that  the  park  and  its  sur- 
rounding wall  were  in  good  condition,  the  account  does 
not  state;  but  during  or  about  the  year  1894  the  Hun-ho, 
which  flows  through  the  park,  became  flooded,  and 
breached  the  wall  in  several  places.  Through  the  gaps 
thus  made  all  the  mi-lou  deer  escaped,  and  appear  to 
have  been  killed  and  eaten  by  the  peasantry  of  the  sur- 
rounding districts,  who  were  suffering  at  that  time  from 
famine.  In  his  letter  Dr.  Bushell  promised  to  make  in- 
quiries on  his  return  to  China  if  any  of  the  deer  had 
escaped  destruction,  but  as  nothing  more  has  been  heard 
from  him  on  the  subject,  it  may  be  presumed  that  all  were 
slaughtered. 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  mi-lou  deer  does  not  exist 
in  a  wild  state  in  some  unexplored  part  of  Kashgaria, 
or  other  remote  part  of  Central  Asia,  it  seems  only 
too  evident  that  its  sole  living  representatives  are  those 
preserved  in  European  collections.  By  far  the  greater 
number  of  these  are  now  at  Woburn  Abbey,  where  they 
run  in  the  open  park  with  the  other  deer.  They  breed 
freely,  without  an  undue  proportion  of  males  among  the 
fawns ;  a  very  hopeful  sign  being  that  some  hinds  pur- 
chased from  Paris,  where  they  were  sterile,  bred  after  they 
were  transferred  to  their  new  quarters.  Some  time  ago 
the  herd  at  Woburn  numbered  over  twenty  head,  and  it 
has  probably  increased  since  that  date.  One  point  in 
favour  of  the  prospects  of  the  survival  of  the  Woburn 
herd  is  the  fact  that  the  species  has  for  centuries  been 
kept  in  a  state  of  semi-domestication — that  is  to  say  it  has 


278  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

lived  in  an  enclosed  park  without,  apparently,  any  infusion 
of  fresh  blood.  It  would,  therefore,  seem  probable  that  it 
will  be  less  likely  to  suffer  from  the  effects  of  inbreeding 
than  is  the  case  with  animals  suddenly  transferred  from 
the  wild  state  to  captivity.  Every  care  is,  of  course, 
taken  of  these  valuable  animals,  and  naturalists  will  watch 
with  interest  the  results  of  the  attempt  to  renew  and 
preserve  a  decadent  and  almost  exterminated  race. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  Pere  David's  mi-lou  deer  is 
the  only  example  of  a  mammalian  species  used  neither  as 
a  food-supply  nor  as  a  beast  of  burden  which  has  been 
preserved  from  extermination  in  a  semi-domesticated  state. 

Readers  of  this  article  who  may  be  desirous  of  seeing 
the  mi-lou  deer,  will  find  a  handsome  stag,  with  fully 
developed  antlers,  exhibited  in  the  Natural  History  branch 
of  the  British  Museum,  where  there  is  also  the  mounted 
head  of  a  female — both  the  gift  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Bedford.  Unfortunately,  the  taxidermist  to  whom  the 
task  of  mounting  the  stag  was  confided  (and  taxidermists 
are  the  despair  of  naturalists,  whose  name  they  are  prone 
to  appropriate  !)  took  for  his  model  a  red-deer  instead  of 
photographs  like  the  one  here  reproduced.  Consequently, 
instead  of  having  the  slouching,  donkey-like  carriage  so 
essentially  characteristic  of  the  species,  the  Museum 
specimen  is  represented  with  its  head  elevated,  after  the 
fashion  of  Landseer's  picture,  "The  Monarch  of  the  Glen." 

As  already  mentioned,  the  mi-lou  deer,  which  is  the 
sole  representative  of  its  kind,  has  no  near  relatives  in 
the  Old  World.  In  spite  of  a  certain  not  very  important 
difference  in  the  structure  of  the  bones  of  the  fore-foot,  it 
appears,  however,  to  be  a  not  very  distant  cousin  of  the 
typical  American  deer — that  is  to  say,  the  numerous  species 
other  than  the  elk,  the  wapiti,  and  the  reindeer,  which 


THE   DEER   OF  THE   PEKING   PARKS          279 

are  really  Old  World  forms,  whose  entrance  into  America 
is  apparently  a  comparatively  recent  event.  Probably  both 
the  mi-lou  and  the  American  deer  are  the  descendants  of 
an  extinct  group,  with  antlers  of  the  same  general  type, 
which  flourished  in  Europe  during  the  later  portion  of 
the  Tertiary  epoch.  The  greater  the  pity  that  such  an 
ancient  and  remarkable  type  as  the  former  should  be  on 
the  point  of  extermination  ! 


FOUR-HORNED    SHEEP 

OF  late  years,  at  any  rate,  the  attention  of  British  breeders 
of  sheep  and  cattle  has  been  directed  to  the  obliteration 
rather  than  to  the  development  of  horns ;  these  weapons  of 
offence  and  defence  being  not  only  quite  unnecessary  to 
domesticated  animals  which  are  never  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  beasts  of  prey,  but  often  being  the  cause  of  serious 
damage,  either  from  the  animals  fighting  when  in  the  open, 
or  goring  one  another  when  crowded  together  during  transit 
by  rail.  Among  cattle  the  estimation  in  which  "  polled  " 
breeds  are  held  at  the  present  day,  and  the  practical  dis- 
appearance of  the  old  longhorns,  are  excellent  examples  of 
this  fashion  ;  while  among  sheep,  if  we  except  the  mountain 
and  Dorset  breeds,  the  majority  of  those  bred  in  this  country 
are  hornless. 

If,  however,  fashion  and  custom  had  set  in  the  opposite 
direction,  there  is  little  doubt  that  some  extraordinary 
developments  in  the  form,  size,  or  number  of  horns  might 
have  been  witnessed  in  both  these  groups  of  animals. 
Length  of  horn  was  indeed  a  feature  in  the  old-fashioned 
breed  of  British  long-horned  cattle,  and  the  massiveness  and 
size  of  the  horns  of  the  humped  cattle  of  Gallaland  and 
Abyssinia,  as  well  as  the  length  frequently  attained  by  the 
same  appendages  in  the  trek-oxen  of  Cape  Colony,  bear 
testimony  to  the  facility  with  which  developments  in  this 
direction  can  be  encouraged. 


FOUR-HORNED   SHEEP  281 

Horn-development  among  domesticated  cattle,  however, 
seems  to  be  restricted  to  increase  in  size,  with  some  com- 
paratively slight  degree  of  modification  in  regard  to  general 
form  and  curvature  ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  breed 
is  known  in  which  the  horns  are  permanently  characterised 
by  an  abnormality  in  structure. 

Very  different  is  the  case  in  sheep,  in  which  the  horns 
seem  to  lend  themselves  with  great  facility  to  abnormal 
development  in  several  directions.  The  typical  form  of 
horn  is  familiar  to  us  in  the  wild  sheep  of  Europe  and 
Asia  as  well  as  in  the  old  classical  sculptures  of  Jupiter 
Ammon  ;  and  this  type,  although  much  reduced  in  size, 
is  fairly  well  retained  in  the  modern  Dorset  and  merino 
breeds.  In  old  rams  of  both  breeds  there  is,  however,  a 
tendency  to  produce  a  spiral  of  greater  length  than 
ever  occurs  in  wild  sheep  ;  and  this  tendency  is  perhaps 
even  more  noticeable  in  the  mountain  breeds  of  Scotland 
and  Wales.  In  all  the  above  breeds  the  original  close 
and  incurved  horizontal  spiral  is,  however,  preserved. 
But  in  the  so-called  Wallachian  breed  of  Eastern  Europe 
the  horns  take  the  form  of  upwardly  directed  corkscrews, 
mimicking  in  fact  to  a  certain  degree  those  of  the  beau- 
tiful African  kudu  antelope.  A  single  skull  in  the  old 
Hunterian  collection  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons 
indicates  the  existence  of  a  closely  allied  if  not  identical 
breed  of  sheep  in  Sumatra. 

A  far  more  curious  modification  produced  by  domesti- 
cation is,  however,  displayed  by  the  augmentation  in  the 
number  of  the  horns ;  two,  three,  four,  or  even  six  extra 
horns  being  sometimes  noticeable.  When  a  pair  of  such 
additional  horns  are  developed  they  usually  occupy  the 
upper  and  fore  part  of  the  head,  and  are  of  a  more  slender 
shape  and  take  a  more  upright  direction  than  the  normal 


282  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

pair,  which  generally  retain  their  ordinary  position  and  form, 
although  frequently  showing  a  more  or  less  pronounced  lack 
of  symmetry.  When  the  Zoological  Society  possessed  a 
farm  at  Kingston  Hill,  in  the  year  1829,  several  of  these 
four-horned  sheep  were  kept  there ;  but,  although  llamas 
and  alpacas,  which  are  just  as  much  domesticated  animals, 
are  exhibited  at  the  present  day  in  the  Society's  menagerie 
in  the  Regent's  Park,  four-horned  and  other  abnormal 
breeds  of  sheep  are  not  on  show.  Flocks  of  four-horned 
sheep  are,  however,  kept  in  several  British  parks. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  close  affinity  existing  between 
sheep  and  goats,  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the 
additional  horns  developed  in  the  four-horned  breed  of  the 
former  should  approximate  to  a  considerable  degree  both 
in  direction  and  in  curvature  to  those  of  the  latter.  This, 
however,  must  not  be  taken  as  an  indication  that  the 
additional  pair  in  the  four-horned  sheep  represents  the 
normal  pair  of  the  goats. 

Four-horned  sheep  belong  to  at  least  two  distinct  breeds, 
one  of  which  is  of  great  antiquity.  According  to  report  this 
breed  originally  came  from  Iceland  and  the  Faroe  Islands, 
where  these  sheep  still  exist,  as  they  also  do  in  the  Orkneys, 
Shetlands,  Hebrides,  and  the  Isle  of  Man.  Occasionally,  it 
is  said,  the  little  brown  sheep  of  the  island  of  Soa,  in  the 
Hebrides,  develop  four  horns,  although  they  are  normally 
two-horned. 

Like  the  Soa  breed,  European  four-horned  sheep  are 
of  very  small  size,  and  dark  in  colour,  the  fleece  being  not 
infrequently  mottled  with  patches  of  brown  and  white.  The 
wool,  too,  as  in  nearly  or  quite  all  the  inferior  breeds  of 
sheep,  is  much  mixed  with  hair,  so  that  it  is  by  no  means 
of  a  fine  quality. 

From  the   islands   of  north-western  Europe  four-horned 


FOUR-HORNED   SHEEP  283 

sheep  may  be  traced  eastwards  across  the  northern  districts 
of  Continental  Europe  and  Asia  into  China,  where  they 
appear  to  be  comparatively  numerous.  Among  the  flocks  of 
the  nomad  Tatars,  the  presence  of  four  horns  is  associated 
with  an  enlargement  of  the  base  of  the  tail,  owing  to  the 
deposition  in  that  region  of  a  large  amount  of  fat.  Although 
such  a  difference  might  be  produced  by  crossing  Icelandic 
four-horned  sheep  with  the  two-horned  fat-tailed  breed, 
it  quite  possibly  indicates  an  altogether  distinct  breed. 
Moreover,  Brian  Hodgson,  a  late  Anglo-Indian  naturalist, 
in  a  paper  on  the  tame  sheep  and  goats  of  the  Sub- 
Himalayas  and  Tibet,  published  in  vol.  xvi.  of  the  Journal 
of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal  (1847),  stated  that  the 
Hunia  sheep  of  the  Himalayas,  which  are  white  with  black 
faces,  occasionally  develop  four  or  more  horns.  Again, 
Darwin,  in  his  "Animals  under  Domestication,"  mentions 
that  merino  sheep  when  exported  to  Chili  display  the  same 
tendency. 

A  breed  of  black  and  white  sheep,  originally  natives  of 
Zululand  and  other  parts  of  South  Africa,  not  unfrequently 
develop  an  additional  pair  of  horns  which  are  quite  different 
in  shape  from  those  of  the  Icelandic  breed,  as  indeed  are 
both  pairs  in  colour,  which  is  black.  A  flock  of  this  breed 
is  kept  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  at  Chatsworth. 

In  most,  if  not  in  all  cases,  the  two  horns  on  each  side 
of  the  head  in  these  sheep  are  perfectly  distinct  and  separate 
from  one  another  at  the  base  ;  but  this  does  not  prove  that 
they  may  not  in  the  first  instance  have  originated  by  a 
splitting  or  division  of  the  young  horns  of  the  normal  pair. 

In  this  connection  it  is  very  noteworthy  that  the  antlers  of 
deer  are  occasionally  bifurcate  for  a  portion  or  the  whole  of 
their  length  on  one  side  of  the  head,  although  there  does  not 
seem  to  be  an  instance  on  record  where  such  a  feature  occurs 


284  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

on  both  sides.  That  such  duplicated  antlers  are  due  to  a 
splitting  during  early  development  is  rendered  perfectly 
manifest  by  the  head  of  a  fallow-deer  figured  on  p.  855  of 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  for  1896.  In  this 
instance  it  is  the  right  antler  which  is  double  throughout  its 
length  ;  but  instead  of  the  two  divisions  of  this  antler  being 
complete  in  every  detail,  the  front  one  corresponds  only 
with  the  fore  half  of  the  normal  complete  antler,  and  vice 
versa.  Hence  the  proof  of  bifurcation. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  a  three-horned  red-deer  head  in  the 
collection  of  Lord  Powerscourt  at  Enniscorthy  the  dupli- 
cated antlers  of  the  right  side  are  practically  replicas  of  one 
another ;  both  being  somewhat  simpler  than  the  normal  left 
antler.  In  this  case  there  is  no  evidence  of  bifurcation,  but 
the  three-horned  fallow-deer  seems  sufficient  to  demonstrate 
that  the  origin  of  the  abnormality  is  the  same  in  both 
instances.  If  this  be  the  case,  there  seems  no  reason  why 
additional  cranial  appendages  developed  in  the  four-horned 
breeds  of  sheep  should  not  have  been  originally  due  to 
fission,  although  no  trace  of  such  original  splitting  can  now 
be  detected.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  specimen  in  the  British 
Museum  actually  shows  the  occurrence  of  such  a  splitting  in 
the  horns  of  a  ram  of  this  breed. 

Splitting  seems,  indeed,  to  be  a  very  common  mode  by 
which  abnormalities  are  produced.  The  Museum  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons  possesses,  for  instance,  the  skull 
of  a  dog  in  which  both  the  upper  tusks,  or  canine  teeth,  are 
longitudinally  split  for  about  half  their  length,  and  there  is  a 
similar  specimen  in  the  British  Museum.  This  splitting  is 
clearly  due  to  a  partial  fission  of  the  crown  of  the  tooth- 
gum.  And  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  similar  fission,  carried 
to  a  greater  extent,  may  explain  the  condition  obtaining 
in  the  skull  of  a  fox  killed  during  the  winter  of  1900  by  the 


FOUR-HORNED   SHEEP  285 

South  Oxfordshire  Hounds,  in  which  there  are  two  complete 
canines  on  each  side  of  the  upper  jaw,  one  behind  the  other, 
giving  a  most  remarkable  appearance  to  the  head.  As 
already  said,  the  complete  duplication  of  the  upper  canine 
may  quite  possibly  be  an  extreme  development  of  the 
imperfect  fission  noticeable  in  the  other  specimens ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  may  be  due  to  the  growth  of  a  supple- 
mental germ  which  exists  at  the  root  of  most  mammalian 
teeth,  but,  as  a  rule,  remains  dormant  throughout  life. 

To  return  to  our  sheep.  It  has  now  to  be  mentioned 
that  the  development  of  two  or  more  additional  horns  in 
these  animals  is  by  no  means  the  only  abnormality  which  not 
infrequently  makes  its  appearance  in  connection  with  these 
appendages.  There  is,  on  the  contrary,  an  equally  marked 
tendency  to  "  sport  "  in  the  opposite  direction — that  is  to  say, 
to  the  coalescence  of  the  normal  pair  so  as  to  give  rise  to 
what  are  practically  unicorn-sheep. 

These  unicorn-sheep  have  a  much  more  restricted  habitat 
than  their  many-horned  cousins,  being  apparently  confined 
to  a  certain  portion  of  the  Himalaya  or  Tibet,  although  they 
are  not  referred  to  by  Brian  Hodgson  in  his  paper  on  the 
tame  sheep  and  goats  of  the  Sub-Himalayas  and  Tibet, 
already  referred  to. 

Three  specimens  of  the  horns  of  this  remarkable  breed 
of  sheep  are  known  to  be  preserved  in  England,  two  of 
them  being  in  the  British  Museum  (to  which  they  were 
presented  by  Hodgson),  while  the  third  is  in  the  Museum 
of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  as  the  gift  of  Colonel 
Finch  in  1830.  The  latter  is  described  in  the  Museum 
Catalogue  in  the  following  words  :  "  The  horns  have  grown 
parallel  to  each  other,  and  are  firmly  united  throughout 
their  whole  extent,  producing  the  appearance  of  a  single 
horn,  the  extremity  of  which  has  been  sawed  off,  probably 


286  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

to  relieve  the  animal  of  the  inconvenience  of  pressure  upon 
the  neck." 

Precisely  the  same  description,  inclusive  of  the  sawing  off 
of  the  top  of  the  amalgamated  horns,  would  apply  to  the 
two  skulls  of  this  breed  in  the  British  Museum. 

In  the  case  of  the  many-horned  breed  of  sheep  it  would 
seem  that  the  redundancy  in  horn-development  is  more 
probably  a  disadvantage  than  ja.  benefit  to  the  animals  in 
which  it  occurs.  And  if,  as  seems  to  be  the  case,  the 
amalgamated  horn  in  the  unicorn-sheep  tends  to  run  into 
the  neck  of  the  owner  so  as  to  necessitate  the  amputation 
of  the  tip,  the  abnormality  is  altogether  harmful ;  so  that 
if  it  occurred  in  a  state  of  nature  it  would  probably  soon 
disappear. 

This  amalgamation  of  the  horns  in  the  unicorn-sheep 
presents  a  curious  analogy  to  the  so-called  solid-hoofed  pigs, 
which  have  been  known  from  a  very  early  period.  "  From 
the  time  of  Aristotle  to  the  present  time/'  wrote  Darwin, 
"  solid-hoofed  swine  have  occasionally  been  observed  in 
various  parts  of  the  world.  Although  this  peculiarity  is 
strongly  inherited,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  all  the  animals 
with  solid  hoofs  have  descended  from  the  same  parents  ;  it  is 
more  probable  that  the  same  peculiarity  has  reappeared  at 
various  times  and  places."  The  peculiarity  is  produced  by 
the  welding  together  of  the  middle  pair  of  hoofs  into  a  single 
large  hoof. 

Although  we  may  at  present  be  unable  to  explain  the 
curious  variations  displayed  by  different  organs  among 
animals  under  domestication,  this  is  surely  no  reason  why 
we  should  refuse  to  study  them  at  all. 


MUSK-OXEN   IN    ENGLAND 

SOME  persons  are  unfortunate  in  their  names,  and  the 
same  is  the  case  with  certain  animals.  The  ruminant 
popularly  known  as  the  musk-ox  and  scientifically  as 
Ovibos  moschatus  is  an  instance  of  this,  for  although  no 
objection  can  be  taken  to  the  prefix  "  musk,"  and  its  Latin 
eqivalent  moschatus,  yet  the  English  title  "ox"  is  in  the 
highest  degree  misleading,  while  the  technical  "  Ovibos," 
which  suggests  characters  intermediate  between  the  oxen 
and  the  sheep,  is  equally  unsatisfactory.  To  say  that  the 
creature  is  an  animal  sui  generis  would  be  a  truism,  seeing 
that  it  is  the  sole  existing  representative  of  the  genus 
Ovibos ;  and  yet  this  expression,  perhaps,  best  conveys 
the  real  state  of  the  case — namely,  that  it  is  a  more  or 
less  isolated  member  of  the  ruminant  group,  coming  under 
the  designation  neither  of  an  ox  nor  a  sheep,  nor  yet 
being  a  connecting  link  between  the  two.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  would  be  much  better  if  the  name 
"  musk-ox "  could  be  dropped  altogether,  and  (unless  it 
be  altogether  unpronounceable)  its  native  Greenland  equi- 
valent adopted  instead.  Unfortunately,  however,  I  have 
hitherto  been  unable  to  ascertain  by  what  name  the  creature 
is  known  to  the  Greenlanders. 

Although  now  restricted  to  Greenland  and  Arctic  America 
eastward  of  the  Mackenzie  River,  the  musk-ox  was  formerly 
a  circumpolar  animal,  its  remains  being  occasionally  met 

287 


288  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

with  in  the  interior  of  Alaska,  more  commonly  in  the  frozen 
cliffs  of  Eschscholtz  Bay,  and  also  in  the  ice-bound  soil  of 
the  Lena  and  the  Yenisei  valleys.  Although  unknown  in 
Franz  Josef  Land  and  Spitzbergen,  the  musk-ox  extends 
polewards  through  Parry  Island  and  Grinnell  Land  into 
North  Greenland,  where  its  northward  range  is  probably 
only  limited  by  the  limits  of  vegetation.  South  Greenland 
at  the  present  day  is,  however,  too  hot  for  such  a  cold- 
loving  beast,  and  Melville  Bay  now  forms  the  southernmost 
point  to  which  it  wanders  on  the  west  coast.  Consequently 
it  would  seem  probable  that  the  musk-oxen  on  the  west  coast 
are  completely  isolated  from  those  on  the  eastern  seaboard  ; 
the  central  mountain  range  of  the  interior  of  Greenland 
being  apparently  impassable  even  by  such  hardy  animals, 
while  a  transit  vid  Cape  Farewell  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
barred  by  climatic  conditions  of  an  opposite  nature. 

In  America,  however,  the  musk-ox  still  ranges  consider- 
ably farther  south,  its  limits  in  this  direction  being 
approximately  formed  by  the  sixtieth  parallel  of  north 
latitude ;  but  it  is  stated  that  year  by  year  its  southern 
range  is  slowly  contracting — possibly  owing  to  pursuit  by 
man.  When  the  musk-ox  ceased  to  be  an  inhabitant  of 
the  Siberian  tundra,  or  why  it  should  ever  have  disappeared 
from  regions  apparently  so  well  suited  to  its  habits  as  are 
Northern  Asia  and  Alaska,  there  are  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining. But  the  date  of  its  disappearance  was  probably 
by  no  means  remote,  comparatively  speaking,  and  it  is 
even  possible  that  man  himself  may  have  taken  a  share 
in  its  extermination.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  beyond 
doubt  that  the  musk-ox  was  an  inhabitant  of  the  south 
of  England,  as  well  as  of  parts  of  France  and  Germany, 
during  or  about  the  time  of  the  glacial  epoch ;  its  remains 
occurring  not  uncommonly  in  the  gravels  of  the  English 


MUSK-OXEN  IN   ENGLAND  289 

river-valleys,  such  as  those  of  the  Thames  and  Severn,  as 
well  as  in  the  brick-earths  of  Kent.  It  is  also  probable 
that  they  occur  in  the  "  forest-bed"  of  the  Norfolk  coast, 
which  somewhat  antedates  the  great  glaciation  of  Britain. 

This  being  so,  it  is  evident  that  the  musk-ox  was  a 
living  British  animal  within  the  period  during  which  our 
islands  have  been  inhabited  by  man,  for  in  many  of  the 
deposits  in  which  its  remains  occur  flint  implements  and 
other  evidences  of  human  presence  are  likewise  found. 
Probably,  indeed,  the  early  human  inhabitants  of  Britain 
not  infrequently  made  a  meal  of  musk-ox  beef;  but  the 
disappearance  of  the  animal  from  the  British  fauna  may 
apparently  be  attributed  rather  to  a  change  in  climatic 
conditions  than  to  pursuit  by  man. 

From  that  long-distant  day  when  the  last  indigenous 
British  musk-ox  departed  this  life  no  living  representative 
of  the  species  appears  to  have  been  brought  to  our  islands 
till  the  autumn  of  1899,  when  a  couple  of  young  bulls  were 
added  to  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford  at  Woburn 
Abbey.  These  were  captured  in  August  in  Clavering  Island, 
situated  off  the  coast  of  East  Greenland,  opposite  Konig 
Wilhelm  Land,  about  latitude  74°  5'  N.  When  they  arrived 
they  were  about  the  size  of  a  rather  large  sheep,  but  by 
March  of  the  following  year  the  solitary  survivor  had 
increased  considerably  in  size,  although  the  horns  were  then 
only  just  visible  above  the  long  hairs  of  the  sides  of  the 
forehead. 

Probably  most  of  my  readers  are  more  or  less  familiar 
with  the  general  appearance  of  the  adult  musk-ox ;  but 
those  who  are  not  would  do  well  to  turn  to  its  portrait 
as  shown  opposite  next  page,  or,  still  better,  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  British  Museum  at  South  Kensington,  where 
both  the  mounted  skin  and  the  skeleton  are  exhibited.  The 

19 


290  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

absence  of  the  large  flattened,  fibrous,  and  downwardly 
curving  yellow  horns,  which  almost  meet  in  the  middle 
line  of  the  forehead  of  the  adult  bull,  renders  the  aspect 
of  the  head  of  the  calf  very  different.  In  other  respects, 
however,  the  calves  are  very  like  the  full-grown  animals 
in  general  appearance,  showing  the  same  long,  straight, 
and  rather  coarse  hair,  the  conspicuous  light-coloured 
"  saddle  "  on  the  back,  the  white  "  stockings,"  the  woolly 
triangular  ears,  the  broad  and  almost  completely  hairy 
muzzle,  and  the  entire  burying  of  the  rudimentary  tail  in 
the  long  hair  of  the  hindquarters.  Owing,  however,  to 
the  inferior  length  of  the  hair  on  the  flanks,  more  of  the 
legs  is  exhibited  in  the  young  than  in  the  adult;  and 
this  enables  the  peculiarly  heavy  and  massive  form  of  the 
pasterns  and  feet  to  be  better  seen.  Nothing  was  more 
curious  about  the  calves  at  Woburn  Abbey  than  their 
movements,  which  recalled  those  of  a  Polar  bear  more 
than  those  of  an  ox  or  a  sheep,  the  hocks  being  turned 
outwards  in  an  altogether  peculiar  and  distinctive  manner. 
If  this  strange  gait  is  also  characteristic  of  the  adult,  it  is 
probably  adapted  for  progression  on  glaciers  and  other 
ice-coated  surfaces ;  firmness  of  foothold  being  secured  by 
the  presence  of  a  considerable  amount  of  hair  on  the 
under-surface  of  the  foot. 

But  there  is  one  respect  in  which  the  Clavering  Island 
calves  differed  from  the  adult  specimens  exhibited  at  the 
time  of  their  arrival  in  the  British  Museum,  as  well  as  from 
the  description  then  given  of  the  species.  This  is  the 
presence  of  a  large  patch  of  white  hair  on  the  forehead, 
as  well  as  of  an  ill-defined  white  streak  down  each  side  of 
the  face,  and  some  scattered  white  hairs  in  the  middle  line 
between  the  muzzle  and  the  eyes. 

As   these   differences  have   been   found    to   be   constant, 


MUSK  OXEN  IN  ENGLAND  291 

the  Greenland  musk-ox  is  now  regarded  as  representing 
a  distinct  local  race. 

To  discuss  the  affinities  of  the  musk-ox  on  this  occasion 
would  obviously  be  out  of  place ;  but  my  readers  may 
probably  like  to  be  informed  of  some  of  the  reasons  which 
preclude  its  being  classed  either  with  the  oxen  or  with  the 
sheep.  As  regards  the  horns,  it  will  suffice  to  say  that 
they  are  quite  unlike  those  of  either  of  the  groups  in 
question.  From  the  oxen  the  animal  is  broadly  dis- 
tinguished alike  by  the  structure  of  its  upper  teeth  and 
also  by  its  hairy  muzzle.  But  this  broad  and  hairy 
muzzle,  in  which  there  is  a  narrow  naked  and  granular 
area  immediately  above  and  between  the  nostrils,  is  equally 
unlike  the  narrow  and  short-haired  muzzle  of  the  sheep 
and  goats.  In  the  structure  of  its  upper  teeth,  as  well  as 
in  the  presence  of  glands  below  the  eyes  and  of  only  two 
mammae  in  the  female,  the  musk-ox  is,  however,  much 
more  like  the  latter  group.  But  these  two  latter  features 
are  of  no  great  zoological  ^importance,  some  sheep  lacking 
face-glands,  while  one  species  of  goat  has  four  mammae ; 
and  they  in  no  wise  serve  to  prove  the  existence  of  any 
close  relationship  between  musk-oxen  and  sheep.  It  may 
be  added  that  the  aborted  tail  of  the  musk-ox  separates 
it  very  widely  from  the  oxen,  in  all  of  which  this  appendage 
is  of  great  relative  length  ;  but  in  this  respect  the  animal 
comes  closer  to  the  sheep,  nearly  all  the  wild  forms  of 
which  have  short  and  stumpy  tails.  In  the  extremely 
late  development  of  the  horns  (as  attested  by  the  survivor 
of  the  Woburn  pair)  the  species  seem  to  stand  apart  from 
both  groups. 

Judging  from  the  photographs  in  an  account  by  Dr.  Nathorst 
of  the  hunting  of  these  animals,  it  would  seem  that  in  East 
Greenland  musk-oxen  are  commonly  found  in  small  herds  of 


292  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

from  eight  to  nine  or  a  dozen  in  number.  Their  favourite 
haunts  seem  to  be  the  gently  sloping  and  boulder-strewn 
short  valleys  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs.  Here  they  can  be 
approached  without  much  difficulty,  and  killed  in  the  open, 
the  members  of  the  herd  standing  to  gaze  unconcernedly 
at  the  aggressor  after  one  or  more  of  their  number  has 
been  shot  down.  When  separated  from  their  mothers, 
the  young  calves  are  by  no  means  difficult  to  capture.  I 
have  been  told  by  a  friend  that  during  an  expedition  to 
Greenland  some  officers  succeeded  in  capturing  a  number 
of  these  calves,  which  they  were  carrying  down  on  their 
shoulders  to  the  coast;  but  the  captive  animals  squealed 
so  loudly  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  all  the  Polar  bears  in 
the  neighbourhood,  which  thereupon  started  in  pursuit  and 
soon  induced  the  unarmed  captors  to  drop  their  booty  ! 


THE    WILD    OX    OF    EUROPE 

AMONG  many  losses  attributable,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
the  first  French  Revolution  appears  to  be  one  which  is 
absolutely  irretrievable,  and  must  ever  remain  a  source  of 
the  deepest  regret  to  the  naturalist.  Up  to  that  time  there 
were  preserved  in  Alsace  two  huge  horns  commonly 
reputed  to  belong  to  the  great  extinct  wild  ox  of  Europe. 
The  one  was  kept  in  the  cathedral  at  Strassburg,  the 
other  in  the  episcopal  palace  at  the  neighbouring  town  of 
Zabern,  or  Saverne.  The  former  was  of  great  length 
(6  ft.  6  in.),  and  comparatively  slender,  while  the  second 
(which  was  mounted  with  silver  and  used  as  a  drinking- 
horn)  was  also  very  large  and  apparently  stouter.  Its 
length  is  not  given,  but  its  capacity  was  so  great  that  it 
would  hold  four  litres  of  wine. 

The  French  naturalist  Buffon,  who  saw  the  Strassburg 
specimen,  believed  that  it  was  truly  the  horn  of  a  wild 
ox,  or  aurochs,  but  this  opinion  is  disputed  by  Prof. 
Nehring,  of  Berlin,  who,  on  account  of  its  great  length  and 
slenderness,  considers  that  it  belonged  to  a  domesticated 
Hungarian  bullock.  This  is  confirmed  by  an  ancient 
tradition  that  the  horn  in  question  was  that  of  one  of 
the  oxen  employed  in  carting  stones  for  building  the 
cathedral,  and  Dr.  Nehring's  view  may  accordingly  be 
accepted. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Zabern  horn,  whose  capacity,  as 

293 


294  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

already  said,  was  four  litres,  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
same  authority,  be  confidently  regarded  as  that  of  an 
aurochs.  For  if  it  be  assumed  that  its  capacity  has  been 
somewhat  enlarged  by  shaving  away  the  inner  surface,  it 
would  seem  to  accord  fairly  well  in  size  with  large  fossil 
specimens  of  the  bony  horn-cores  of  that  animal.  For 
three  centuries  the  Zabern  horn  was  the  emblem  of  an 
association  known  as  "the  brotherhood  of  the  horn." 
This  society  was  founded  in  May,  1586,  by  Bishop  John 
von  Manderscheid,  who  came  into  possession  of  the  horn 
as  a  hunting-trophy,  or  heirloom,  from  his  ancestors.  The 
meeting-place  of  the  society  was  the  castle  of  Hoh-Barr, 
near  Zabern.  The  horn  was  regarded  with  great  veneration 
by  the  members  of  the  confraternity,  to  which  distinguished 
strangers  were  occasionally  admitted  as  "  honorary  members." 
Like  the  Strassburg  ox-horn,  the  Zabern  aurochs-horn 
mysteriously  disappeared  during  or  soon  after  the  French 
Revolution. 

With  its  disappearance  vanished  apparently  the  last 
relic  of  an  aurochs  killed  within  the  historic  period.  It  is 
true  that  Prof.  W.  B.  Dawkins  *  has  stated  that  a  pair  of 
aurochs-horns  were  borne  in  procession  on  certain  occasions 
in  the  canton  of  Uri,  Switzerland,  so  late  as  about  the  year 
1866,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  practice  is  continued, 
or  that  the  horns  are  still  in  existence. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  aurochs-horns  were  commonly  pre- 
served— although  even  then  as  rarities— in  churches  and 
castles,  where  they  were  generally  used  as  drinking-vessels  ; 
and  it  is  mentioned  in  the  "  Commentaries"  of  Julius  Caesar 
that  even  in  his  time  such  horns,  mounted  in  silver,  were 
employed  for  the  same  purpose.  In  the  year  1550,  Conrad 
Gesner  mentions  that  an  entire  aurochs-skull  (apparently 
*  Quart.  Journ.  Geol  Soc.,  vol.  xxii.  p.  393. 


THE  WILD   OX   OF  EUROPE  295 

with  the  horns)  was  preserved  in  the  town-hall  at  Worms, 
and  another  at  Mayence.  Probably  both  have  long  since 
perished. 

Seeing  that  horns  are  almost  unknown  in  a  fossil  state, 
it  might  well  have  been  thought  that,  with  the  loss  of  the 
historic  Zabern  specimen,  the  last  example  of  an  aurochs- 
horn  has  disappeared  for  ever.  By  a  lucky  chance,  a 
nearly  perfect  horn  of  the  wild  ox  has,  however,  been 
recently  discovered  in  a  peat-bog  in  Pomerania,  together 
with  a  fragment  of  the  bony  horn-core  on  which  it  was 
supported  during  life.  The  specimen  has  been  described 
by  Dr.  Nehring,  and  proved  to  belong  unquestionably  to 
the  aurochs,  as  distinct  from  the  bison. 

The  mention  of  both  aurochs  and  bison  in  the  preceding 
sentence  renders  it  desirable  to  allude  to  a  matter  which 
has  been  the  cause  of  considerable  confusion  and  mis- 
conception. Until  within  the  last  few  years,  nearly  all 
naturalists  regarded  these  two  names  as  synonymous,  and 
applied  them  both  to  the  bison ;  or  rather,  in  many  cases 
dropped  the  latter  name  altogether,  and  miscalled  the 
animal  to  which  it  belongs  the  aurochs.  The  same  practice 
is  largely  followed  by  sportsmen  at  the  present  day. 
In  old  German  the  wild  ox  appears  to  have  been  called 
indifferently  either  ur  or  auerochs-,  the  former  name  being 
Latinised  by  Caesar  into  Urus.  Auerochs,  according  to  the 
usual  interpretation,  signifies  mountain  or  wild  ox ;  but 
opinions  differ  as  to  whether  ur  has  a  similar  meaning,  or 
whether  it  signifies  the  old  or  primeval  ox.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  the  wild  ox,  which  may  even  in  Caesar's  time  have 
been  growing  scarce,  gradually  became  rarer  and  rarer 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  till  it  finally  disappeared  in  the 
first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  name,  however, 
still  remained  among  the  peasantry  of  Eastern  Europe,  and 


296  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

as  there  was  no  species  to  which  it  could  possibly  apply 
save  the  bison,  which  then  still  survived  in  Poland  and 
elsewhere,  it  was  transferred  to  that  animal,  of  which,  as 
already  mentioned,  it  became  the  common  designation. 
A  precisely  analogous  instance  has  occurred  in  Eastern 
Russia.  The  bison,  in  place  of  being  restricted,  as  now, 
to  Lithuania  and  the  Caucasus,  was  formerly  much  more 
widely  distributed.  When  it  disappeared  from  certain 
districts,  its  name  still  survived,  and  became  transferred 
by  the  peasants  to  the  eastern  race  of  the  red-deer, 
as  the  only  large  wild  ungulate  with  which  they  were 
acquainted. 

As  regards  the  gradual  extermination  of  the  aurochs 
as  a  wild  animal  during  the  Middle  Ages,  much  important 
evidence  has  been  collected  of  late  years  by  Messrs.  Nehring 
and  Schiemenz. 

During  the  Pleistocene  epoch,  when  the  mammoth  and 
the  woolly  rhinoceros  inhabited  the  British  Islands  and 
the  Continent  (which  were  then  one),  the  aurochs  was  a 
common  animal,  as  is  attested  by  the  abundance  of  its 
remains  in  formations  of  that  age.  Some  of  the  finest 
and  largest  skulls  of  this  so-called  Bos  primigenius  were 
obtained  by  the  late  Sir  Antonio  Brady  from  the  brick-earths 
of  Ilford,  in  Essex.  Other  skulls  have  been  obtained  from 
the  peat  of  Perthshire,  from  Burwell  Fen,  Cambridgeshire, 
and  from  a  peaty  deposit  at  Newbury,  in  Berkshire.  A 
skull  from  Burwell  Fen,  in  the  Woodwardian  Museum  at 
Cambridge,  has  a  flint  implement  embedded  in  the  fore- 
head, thus  showing  that  the  animal  was  hunted  by  the 
prehistoric  inhabitants  of  our  islands  at  a  time  when  the 
mammoth  and  rhinoceros  had  already  disappeared. 

As  to  the  date  of  the  extermination  of  the  wild  aurochs 
in  Britain  there  is  no  decisive  evidence,  but  no  skulls  or 


THE  WILD   OX  OF  EUROPE  297 

other  remains  have  hitherto  been  identified  from  deposits 
of  Roman  or  later  age.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  that  it 
may  have  survived  till  the  epoch  in  question,  or  later,  in 
the  more  remote  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  Prof.  Dawkins 
has  even  suggested  that  the  tauri  sylvestres  mentioned  by 
Fitzstephen,  who  wrote  his  "  Life  of  Beckett "  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  II.,  as  inhabiting  the  forests  round  London, 
were  aboriginally  wild  animals.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
may  equally  well  bave  been  cattle  that  had  run  wild,  and 
this  is  confirmed  by  Bishop  Leslie,  of  Ross,  who  stated  in 
1598  that  the  Bos  sylvestris  of  the  Caledonian  Forest  was 
white. 

On  the  Continent,  we  have  the  evidence  of  Caesar  as  to 
the  co-existence  of  the  aurochs  or  urus  in  the  Hercynian, 
or  Black,  Forest  with  the  bison  and  the  elk.  And  it  is 
related  how  the  young  German  warriors  of  that  time 
prepared  themselves  for  war  by  hunting  and  killing  the 
fierce  aurochs.  A  remarkable  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
Caesar's  statement  as  to  the  co-existence  of  the  aurochs 
and  bison  on  the  Continent  during  the  period  of  the  Roman 
occupation  is  afforded  by  the  discovery  in  Swabia,  during 
the  widening  of  a  railway  in  1895,  of  two  statuettes  of  oxen 
belonging  to  the  Roman  period.  They  were  dug  up  in  loam 
at  a  depth  of  nine  feet  below  the  surface,  and  have  been 
described  and  figured  by  Prof.  E.  Fraas.*  The  one,  as 
shown  by  the  great  elevation  and  depth  of  the  fore- 
quarters,  clearly  represents  the  bison.  The  other,  on  the 
contrary,  is  as  evidently  intended  for  the  aurochs.  The 
horns  have  been  broken  off  in  both  specimens,  but  what 
remains  of  them  agrees  in  each  instance  with  the  form 
they  should  assume.  In  stating  that  both  species  inhabited 
the  Black  Forest  contemporaneously,  it  is  not  meant  that 
*  "  Fundberichte  aus  Schwaben,"  vol.  vii.  p.  37  (1899). 


298  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

they  were  actually  found  in  company.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  more  probable,  as  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Nehring,  that 
while  the  one  frequented  the  low-lying  and  swampy  forests, 
the  other  resorted  to  the  higher  and  drier  woods. 

Of  later  chronicles  than  Caesar's  one  describing  the 
wars  of  Charlemagne  in  the  early  part  of  the  ninth  century 
alludes  to  the  king  going  to  hunt  bisons  or  aurochs 
(bisontium  vel  urorum)  in  the  forests  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
The  use  of  the  term  vel  is  a  little  ambiguous,  but  Prof. 
Dawkins  considers  that  the  passage  indicates  the  occurrence 
of  both  species  in  the  forest,  while  he  is  also  of  opinion 
that  the  animal  slain  by  Charlemagne  was  undoubtedly  an 
aurochs.  Of  special  importance  is  the  mention  of  both 
bison  and  aurochs  (urus)  in  a  grace  used  at  the  Abbey  of 
St.  Gall  about  the  year  1000.  Another  important  state- 
ment is  to  the  effect  that  aurochs  and  elk  were  met  with 
by  the  First  Crusade  when  crossing  Germany  at  the  close 
of  the  eleventh  century,  special  reference  being  made  to 
the  enormous  size  of  the  horns  of  the  former  animals. 
Again,  in  the  "  Nibelungen-Lied,"  of  the  twelfth  century, 
Siegfried  is  related  to  have  killed  a  bison  and  four  aurochs 
near  Worms. 

A  work  by  the  German  writer  Herberstain,  entitled 
"  Moscovia,"  of  which  an  Italian  translation  was  published 
at  Venice  in  I55°»  affords  the  most  important  evidence 
of  any  as  to  the  survival  of  the  aurochs  in  Poland  (and 
probably  also  in  Hungary)  during  the  later  Middle  Ages. 
In  this  work  appear  woodcuts — rude,  it  is  true,  but  still 
characteristic  and  unmistakable — of  two  perfectly  distinct 
types  of  European  wild  cattle,  one  being  the  aurochs,  or 
ur,  and  the  other  the  bison.  As  Herberstain  had  travelled 
frequently  in  Poland,  it  is  probable  that  he  had  seen  both 
species  alive,  and  the  drawings  were  most  likely  executed 


THE  WILD   OX  OF  EUROPE  299 

under  his  own  immediate  supervision  and  direction.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  the  figure  of  the  aurochs  was 
taken  from  a  domesticated  ox,  but  Messrs.  Nehring  and 
Schiemenz  have  shown  that  this  is  quite  a  mistaken  idea. 
Not  the  least  important  feature  of  the  work  of  Herberstain 
is  the  application  of  the  name  "  aurochs "  to  the  wild  ox, 
as  distinct  from  the  bison.  The  locality  where  aurochs 
survived  in  Herberstain's  time  was  the  forest  of  Jakto- 
zowka,  situated  about  fifty-five  kilometres  west-south-west 
of  Warsaw,  in  the  provinces  of  Bolemow  and  Sochaczew. 
From  other  evidence  it  appears  that  the  last  aurochs  was 
killed  in  this  forest  in  the  year  1627.  It  is  important 
to  notice  that  Herberstain  describes  the  colour  of  the  aurochs 
as  black,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  another  old  picture 
of  the  animal.  Gesner's  figure  of  the  aurochs,  or,  as  he 
calls  it,  "thur,"  given  in  his  "  History  of  Animals,"  pub- 
lished in  1622,  was  probably  adapted  from  Herberstain's. 
It  may  be  added  that  an  ancient  gold  goblet  depicts  the 
hunting  and  taming  of  the  wild  aurochs.* 

As  a  wild  animal,  then,  the  aurochs  appears  to  have 
ceased  to  exist  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  ; 
but  as  a  species  it  is  still  among  us,  for  there  can  be  no 
doubt  the  majority  of  the  domesticated  breeds  of  European 
cattle  are  its  descendants,  all  diminished  in  point  of  size, 
and  some  departing  more  widely  from  the  original  type 
than  others.  Aurochs'  calves  were  in  all  probability  cap- 
tured by  the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  Britain  and  the 
Continent  and  tamed ;  and  from  these,  with  perhaps  an 
occasional  blending  of  wild  blood,  are  doubtless  descended 
most  of  our  European  cattle. 

Much  misconception  has,  however,  prevailed  as  to  which 
breeds  are  the  nearest  to  the  ancestral  wild  stock.  For 
*  See  Keller,  Globus,  vol.  Ixxii.,  No.  22  (1897). 


300  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

instance,  in  1866,  Prof.  Dawkins  wrote  as  follows: 
"The  half-wild  oxen  of  Chillingham  Park,  in  Northumber- 
land, and  other  places  in  northern  and  central  Britain, 
are  probably  the  last  surviving  representatives  of  the 
gigantic  urus  of  the  Pleistocene  period,  reduced  in  size 
and  modified  in  every  respect  by  their  small  range  and 
their  contact  with  men." 

When  this  was  penned,  it  is  only  fair  to  state,  the  fact 
that  the  colour  of  the  aurochs  was  black  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  known  to  the  writer ;  neither  was  it  then 
generally  recognised  that  the  park  cattle  (which  are  always 
white)  are  semi-albinoes.  Such  semi-albinism  is  always 
the  result  of  domestication,  as  is  mentioned  in  Bell's 
"  British  Quadrupeds,"  and  could  not  have  arisen  in  the 
wild  state.  Moreover,  the  park  cattle  display  evidence  of 
their  descent  from  dark-coloured  breeds  by  the  retention 
of  red  or  black  ears  and  brown  or  black  muzzles.  In  the 
Chillingham  cattle  the  ears  are  generally  red,  although 
sometimes  (probably  as  the  result  of  crossing)  black,  and 
the  muzzle  brown;  while  in  the  breed  at  Cadzow  Park, 
Lanarkshire,  both  ears  and  muzzle  are  deep  black,  and 
there  are  usually  flecks  of  black  on  the  head  and  fore- 
quarters.  It  is  further  significant  that,  in  the  Chillingham 
herd  at  any  rate,  dark-coloured  calves,  which  are  weeded 
out  by  the  keepers,  make  their  appearance  from  time  to 
time. 

Now,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  when  the  black  Pem- 
broke breed  of  domesticated  cattle  tends  to  albinism,  the 
ears  and  muzzle,  and  more  rarely  the  fetlocks,  remain 
completely  black  or  very  dark  grey,  although  the  colour 
elsewhere  is  whitish,  more  or  less  profusely  flecked  and 
blotched  with  pale  grey.  In  the  shape  and  curvature  of 
the  horns,  which  at  first  incline  outwards  and  forwards, 


THE   WILD   OX   OF   EUROPE  301 

and  then  bend  somewhat  upwards  and  inwards,  this  breed 
of  cattle,  which  is  known  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  resem- 
bles both  the  gigantic  aurochs  and  the  (by  comparison) 
dwarfed  park  breeds.  Moreover,  in  both  the  Pembroke 
and  the  park  breeds  the  horns  are  light-coloured  with 
black  tips. 

Important  evidence  as  to  the  close  affinity  between  these 
two  breeds  is  furnished  by  Low,  in  his  "  Domesticated 
Animals  of  the  British  Islands."  It  is  there  stated  that  a 
breed  of  cattle  very  similar  to  that  at  Chillingham  was 
found  in  Wales  in  the  tenth  century,  these  cattle  being 
white  with  red  ears.  "  The  individuals  of  this  race  yet 
existing  in  Wales  are  found  chiefly  in  the  county  of 
Pembroke,  where  they  have  been  kept  by  some  individuals 
perfectly  pure  as  a  part  of  their  regular  farm-stock.  Until 
a  period  comparatively  recent,  they  were  relatively 
numerous,  and  persons  are  yet  living  who  remember  when 
they  were  driven  in  droves  to  the  pasturages  of  the  Severn 
and  the  neighbouring  markets.  Their  whole  essential 
characters  are  the  same  as  those  (of  the  cattle)  at  Chil- 
lingham and  Chartley  Park  and  elsewhere.  Their  horns 
are  white,  tipped  with  black,  and  extended  and  turned 
upwards  in  the  manner  distinctive  of  the  wild  breed. 
The  inside  of  the  ears  and  the  muzzle  are  black,  and 
their  feet  are  black  to  the  fetlock-joint.  Their  skin  is 
unctuous  and  of  a  deep-toned  yellow  colour.  Individuals 
of  the  race  are  sometimes  born  entirely  black,  and  then 
they  are  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  common  cattle 
of  the  mountains." 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  white  park  cattle  are  a 
specialised  offshoot  from  the  ancient  Pembroke  black  breed, 
which,  as  Low  mentions  in  a  later  passage,  from  their 
soft  and  well-haired  skins,  are  evidently  natives  of  a  humid 


302  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

climate,  such  as  that  of  the  forests  in  which  dwelt  the 
wild  aurochs.  This  disposes,  once  and  for  all,  of  a  theory 
recently  broached  that  the  park  cattle  are  descendants  of 
a  white  sacrificial  breed  introduced  by  the  Romans. 

A  further  inference  is  that  the  Pembroke  cattle  are 
themselves  the  most  immediate  descendants  of  the  wild 
aurochs  (which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  black)  now 
living  in  the  British  Islands,  or  perhaps,  indeed,  anywhere 
else.  That  the  park  cattle  have  in  some  cases  reverted  to 
a  semi-wild  state,  whereas  the  Pembrokes  are  thoroughly 
domesticated,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  argument,  and 
is  merely  the  result  of  the  force  of  circumstances. 

To  some  persons  the  red  ears  of  the  Chillingham  and 
some  of  the  old  Welsh  white  cattle  may  give  rise  to  a 
doubt  as  to  the  relationship  with  the  aurochs  and  Pem- 
broke breed ;  but  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  red  is 
the  primitive  coloration  of  all  wild  cattle,  and  that,  for 
aught  we  know  to  the  contrary,  the  calves,  or  even  the 
cows,  of  the  aurochs  may  have  been  of  this  colour,  as  are 
those  of  the  banting,  or  wild  ox,  of  Java,  of  which  the 
old  bulls  are  black.  The  red  ears  of  the  Chillingham  breed 
are  therefore,  at  most,  a  reversion  to  the  colour  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  aurochs. 

From  the  foregoing  statements  it  is  evident  that  the 
aurochs  and  the  Pembroke  and  park  cattle  belong  to  one 
and  the  same  species,  and  since  the  latter  do  not  appear 
specifically  separable  from  the  domesticated  cattle  of  Scan- 
dinavia, which  probably  formed  the  type  of  the  Bos  taurus 
of  Linnaeus,  it  is  clear  that  the  aurochs  has  no  right  to 
a  distinct  species  name.  Instead  of  Bos  primigenius}  it 
should  be  called  Bos  taurus  primigenius. 


THE   SMALLEST  WILD   CATTLE 

AMONG  the  larger  mammals  the  species  or  varieties  in- 
habiting islands  are  more  or  less  markedly  inferior  in 
point  of  size  to  their  nearest  continental  relatives.  In 
the  case  of  the  smaller  islands,  like  Sardinia  and  Corsica, 
the  reason  of  such  a  diminution  in  stature  is  not  far  to 
seek,  and  it  is  therefore  not  in  the  least  surprising  to 
find  that  the  Corsican  red-deer  is  a  very  inferior  edition 
of  its  prototype  of  the  mainland.  The  buffalo  of  the 
small  island  of  Mindoro,  in  the  Philippines,  is  greatly 
inferior  in  size  to  the  wild  buffaloes  of  the  tall  grass- 
jungles  of  Assam.  In  the  case  of  islands  of  the 
dimensions  of  Sumatra  and  Borneo  the  reason  of  the 
phenomenon  is  by  no  means  apparent,  especially  when 
we  find  them  inhabited  by  a  man-like  ape  (the  orang- 
utan) almost  rivalling  in  bulk  and  stature  the  gorilla 
of  Western  Africa.  Nevertheless,  even  in  such  areas 
the  same  feature  is  to  a  certain  extent  noticeable,  the 
wild  buffalo  of  Borneo  being  considerably  smaller  than 
its  Indian  relative.  As  regards  its  actual  area,  the 
island  of  Celebes  occupies  a  kind  of  intermediate  position, 
since  it  is  much  inferior  in  extent  to  either  Sumatra  or 
Borneo,  although  far  too  extensive  to  come  under  the 
denomination  of  a  small  island.  From  its  peculiar  shape, 
which  recalls  the  form  often  assumed  by  an  amoeba,  it  has, 
however,  a  much  smaller  area  that  could  be  enclosed  by 

303 


304  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

a  ring  fence  than  many  islands  of  less  than  half  its 
acreage,  and  this  may  really  bring  it,  so  far  as  the  de- 
velopment of  animal  life  is  concerned,  into  the  same 
category  as  a  small  island. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Celebes  has  the  distinction  of  being 
the  home  of  the  smallest  living  representative  of  the  wild 
cattle,  or,  indeed,  of  the  wild  cattle  of  any  period  of  the 
earth's  history,  for  no  equally  diminutive  fossil  member  of 
the  group  appears  to  be  known.  An  idea  of  the  extremely 
diminutive  proportions  of  the  anoa,  or  sapi-utan,  as  the 
animal  in  question  is  respectively  called  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Celebes  and  the  Malays,  may  be  gained  when  it  is 
stated  that  its  height  at  the  shoulder  is  only  about  3  ft. 
3  in.,  whereas  that  of  the  great  Indian  wild  ox,  or  gaur, 
is  at  least  6  ft.  4  in.  In  fact,  the  anoa  is  really  not 
much,  if  at  all,  larger  than  a  well-grown  Southdown  sheep, 
and  scarcely  exceeds  in  this  respect  the  little  domesticated 
Indian  Bramini  cattle. 

The  anoa  has  many  of  the  characters  of  the  large 
Indian  buffalo,  but  its  horns  are  relatively  shorter,  less 
curved,  and  more  upright.  In  this,  as  well  as  in  certain 
other  respects,  it  is  more  like  the  young  than  the  adult 
of  the  last-named  species ;  and  as  young  animals  fre- 
quently show  ancestral  features  which  are  gradually  lost 
as  maturity  is  approached,  it  would  be  a  natural  suppo- 
sition that  the  anoa  is  a  primitive  type  of  buffalo.  This 
idea  receives  a  remarkable  confirmation  from  the  circum- 
stance that  in  the  later  Tertiary  strata  of  Northern  India 
there  occur  skulls  of  anoa-like  buffaloes,  which,  however, 
in  correlation  with  the  continental  area  where  they  are 
met  with,  indicate  animals  of  considerably  larger  dimen- 
sions than  the  living  Celebes  animal.  In  fact  the  latter, 
together  with  the  somewhat  larger  wild  buffalo,  or 


From  a  photograph  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford.] 

MALE  AND  FEMALE  ANOA,  OR  DWARF  BUFFALO. 
The  bull  has  unfortunately  lost  the  greater  part  of  his  tail. 

\_Tofacep.  304 


THE   SMALLEST   WILD   CATTLE  305 

tamarau,  of  the  island  of  Mindoro,  and  the  aforesaid 
extinct  Indian  species,  constitute  an  altogether  peculiar 
and  primitive  group  of  the  buffalo  tribe. 

In  its  young  state  and  during  middle  life  the  anoa  is 
covered  with  a  fairly  thick  coat  of  somewhat  woolly  hair, 
which  is  at  first  yellowish  brown,  but  eventually  becomes 
dark  brown  or  blackish.  In  common  with  other  Asiatic 
buffaloes,  the  hair  is  reversed  along  the  middle  line  of 
the  neck  and  back  as  far  as  the  haunches ;  that  is  to 
say  the  tips  are  directed  towards  the  head  instead  of 
towards  the  tail.  What  may  be  the  precise  object  of  this 
reversal  (which  is  also  met  with  among  many  antelopes 
and  deer)  is  not  yet  ascertained.  Possibly  it  may  have 
something  to  do  with  the  manner  in  which  the  animals 
rub  themselves  against  the  stems  or  boughs  of  trees  and 
bushes. 

In  old  individuals,  especially  those  of  the  male  sex, 
the  coat  of  hair  almost  completely  disappears,  leaving  the 
black  skin  bare  and  shining,  like  that  of  old  buffaloes  in 
general.  This  condition  has  been  attained  by  the  bull 
shown  in  the  foreground  of  the  accompanying  photograph. 
And  here  it  should  be  remarked  that  this  particular 
animal  has  suffered  the  loss  of  the  greater  portion  of 
its  tail,  which  somewhat  alters  the  appearance  of  its 
hindquarters.  With  the  usual  fatality  that  attends  the 
grouping  of  animals,  it  has  also  happened  that  the  hind- 
quarters of  the  bull  are  in  full  view,  while  those  of  the 
cow  are  concealed.  The  somewhat  spiteful  and  uncertain 
temper  of  the  bull  is  indicated  by  the  circumstance  that 
it  was  found  necessary  to  affix  brass  knobs  to  its  horns. 
From  the  more  typical  buffaloes  the  anoa  differs  by  the 
general  presence  of  white  markings.  These  usually  take 
the  form  of  a  gorget  on  the  lower  part  of  the  throat, 

20 


306  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

and  of  one  or  two  spots  on  each  side  of  the  under-jaw, 
as  well  as  patches  above  the  lateral  hoofs  ;  but  there  may 
also  be  white  blotches  on  the  neck  and  back,  and  in  front 
of  the  eyes,  while  more  or  less  of  white  may  appear  on 
the  muzzle  and  the  whole  of  the  lower  portion  of  the 
limbs.  The  special  interest  attaching  to  these  white 
markings  is  that  the  spots  on  the  sides  of  the  face  as 
well  as  the  gorget  on  the  throat  are  also  met  with 
among  certain  antelopes,  such  as  the  kudu  and  the  bush- 
bucks;  and  from  this  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  anoa 
is  more  nearly  related  to  the  antelopes  than  is  any  other 
member  of  the  ox  tribe.  Although  this  may  be  true  to 
a  certain  extent,  the  connection  with  the  kudu  tribe  is 
remote. 

According  to  the  meagre  accounts  we  at  present  possess 
of  the  creature  in  its  native  haunts,  the  anoa  dwells  in 
pairs  on  the  elevated  ground  of  the  interior  of  Celebes, 
where  it  passes  most  of  its  time  in  thick  forests  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  water.  In  associating  in  pairs  it  is 
quite  unlike  all  other  wild  cattle,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  the  Philippine  tamarau  ;  and  here  again  it  presents 
a  resemblance  to  the  kudu  and  bushbucks,  which  also 
generally  go  about  in  pairs  or  small  family  parties. 

Examples  of  the  anoa  are  but  rarely  seen  alive  in 
England,  although  they  do  not  appear  very  difficult  to 
procure.  The  first  specimen  exhibited  in  the  London 
Zoological  Gardens  was  purchased  in  May,  1871,  and  a 
second  was  obtained  by  exchange  in  June,  1880.  Between 
the  latter  date  and  1896  (when  the  last  complete  list 
of  the  animals  in  the  menagerie  was  published)  not  a 
single  example  of  this  very  interesting  little  buffalo  was 
obtained.  At  Woburn  Abbey  the  pair  represented  in  the 
accompanying  photograph  dwelt  in  a  good-sized  paddock 


THE  SMALLEST  WILD  CATTLE  307 

by  themselves,  and  flourished  for  a  considerable  period. 
Unfortunately,  however,  one  of  the  two  has  died  since 
the  photograph  was  taken. 

Apart  from  the  interest  attaching  to  it  as  a  primitive 
island  type,  and  as  being  the  smallest  representative  of 
the  ox  tribe,  it  cannot  fairly  be  said  that  the  anoa  is  a 
very  attractive  animal.  It  has  nothing  specially  to  com- 
mend it  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view,  being,  in  fact, 
a  rather  ugly  and  ungainly  creature  ;  and  from  its  pug- 
nacious disposition  it  is  not  adapted  for  turning  out  in 
British  parks  among  other  horned  animals.  Moreover, 
it  has  a  decidedly  delicate  constitution,  which  alone 
would  be  sufficient  to  render  it  unfit  for  this  kind  of 
life. 


ARMOUR-CLAD  WHALES 

AMONG  the  many  wonderful  palaeontological  discoveries  that 
have  startled  the  scientific  world  during  the  last  few  years, 
none,  perhaps,  is  more  unexpected  than  the  assertion  that 
the  ancestral  whales  were  protected  from  attack  by  a  bony 
armour  analogous  to  that  with  which  the  armadillos  of  South 
America  are  covered.  Scarcely  less  marvellous  is  the  fact 
that  vestiges  of  this  ancient  coat  of  mail  are  still  borne  by 
such  familiar  cetaceans  as  the  porpoise  and  its  near  relative, 
the  Japanese  porpoise  (Neophocaena  phocaenoides),  the  latter 
species  being  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  a  back-fin. 
That  creatures  like  the  modern  pelagic  whales  and  porpoises, 
or  even  the  river  dolphins,  could  ever  have  been  invested 
with  a  complete  bony  armour,  is,  of  course,  an  absolute 
impossibility.  The  rigidity  of  such  a  panoply  would  have 
interfered  far  too  much  with  the  mobility  of  their  supple 
bodies,  while  its  weight  would  have  impaired  their  buoyancy. 
Consequently  it  is  necessary  to  assume  that  in  even  the 
earlier  representatives  of  these  types  the  armour  must 
have  been  in  a  condition  of  degradation  and  elimination, 
so  that  we  must  go  back  to  more  primitive  forms  to  find  it 
in  its  full  development.  As  every  one  knows  nowadays, 
whales  and  dolphins  trace  their  ancestry  to  land  animals, 
and  nothing  is  more  likely  than  that  when  such  ancestral 
creatures  began  to  take  to  an  amphibious  life  on  the 
seashore,  or  at  the  mouth  of  a  large  river,  they  should 

308 


ARMOUR-CLAD   WHALES  309 

have  developed  a  dermal  armour  which  would  serve  to 
protect  them  .alike  from  the  breakers  and  from  the  attacks 
of  sharks  and  other  marine  monsters.  For  the  idea  that 
the  terrestrial  ancestors  of  the  cetaceans  were  clad  in 
armour  cannot  for  a  moment  be  entertained,  since  the 
primitive  mammals  were  not  so  protected,  and  the  American 
armadillos  afford  an  instance  of  the  development  de  novo 
of  such  a  bony  panoply  at  a  comparatively  recent 
epoch. 

Years  ago  the  late  Dr.  H.  Burmeister  described  a  porpoise 
from  Argentina  as  Phocaena  spinipinnis,  on  account  of  its 
possessing  a  number  of  spiny  tubercles  embedded  in  the  skin 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  back-fin  as  well  as  on  the  fin 
itself.  "  Some  small  spines,"  he  wrote,  "  begin  in  the  middle 
of  the  back,  at  the  distance  of  twenty-five  centimetres 
in  front  of  the  fin,  as  a  single  line  of  moderate  spines; 
but  soon  another  line  begins  on  each  side,  so  that  in  the 
beginning  of  the  fin  there  are  already  three  lines  of  spines. 
These  three  lines  are  continued  over  the  whole  rounded 
anterior  margin  of  the  fin  and  are  augmented  on  both  sides 
by  other  small  spines  irregularly  scattered,  so  that  the  whole 
number  of  lines  of  spines  in  the  middle  of  the  fin  is  five." 
In  a  section  of  the  skin  of  the  back-fin  the  tubercles  are 
distinctly  seen,  many  of  them  being  double. 

Similar  tubercles  were  described  on  the  back-fin  of  a 
porpoise  taken  in  the  Thames  in  1865  ;  and  quite  recently 
a  row  of  no  less  than  twenty-five  well-developed  tubercles 
has  been  detected  on  the  front  edge  of  the  back-fin  of  a  foetal 
porpoise,  these  tubercles  being  nearly  white  and  thus  showing 
up  in  a  marked  contrast  to  the  dark-coloured  skin.  Even 
more  distinct  are  the  tubercles  in  the  skin  of  the  finless 
back  of  the  Japanese  porpoise,  where  they  form  several 
rows  of  polygonal  plates. 


3io  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

In  a  fossil  porpoise  (Delphinopsis  freyeri)  from  the  middle 
Tertiary  deposits  of  Radoboj,  in  Croatia,  the  tubercles  are 
still  more  strongly  developed,  and  form  a  series  of  regu- 
larly arranged  and  parallel  rows  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  back-fin.  They  clearly  indicate  one  step  from  the 
modern  porpoises  in  the  direction  of  a  species  provided 
with  a  functional  bony  armour  in  this  region  of  the  body. 
Between  the  extinct  Croatian  porpoise  and  the  much  more 
ancient  whale  known  as  Zeuglodon,  some  parts  of  whose 
body  are  believed  to  have  been  protected  by  a  bony  armour 
as  solid  as  that  of  the  giant  relatives  of  the  armadillos,  the 
intermediate  links  are  at  present  unknown,  although  they 
may  turn  up  any  day.  Zeuglodon  was  first  discovered 
in  the  early  Tertiary  strata  of  the  United  States,  but  its 
remains  have  subsequently  been  found  in  the  equivalent 
deposits  of  Egypt  and  elsewhere,  and  in  early  times  it 
was  probably  the  dominant  cetacean  of  the  world.  Years 
ago  there  were  discovered  with  the  bones  of  the  internal 
skeleton  of  this  whale  a  number  of  bony  plates  which 
originally  formed  a  dermal  armour ;  but  these  plates  were 
regarded  as  belonging  to  a  species  of  leathery  turtle  and 
as  having  nothing  to  do  with  the  whale. 

In  microscopic  structure,  as  well  as  in  their  arrangement, 
these  polygonal  bony  plates  are  said,  however,  to  differ  from 
the  armour  of  the  leathery  turtle ;  while  their  structure  is 
generally  similar  to  the  undoubted  bones  of  Zeuglodon 
with  which  they  are  found  in  association.  Moreover,  a 
fragment  covered  on  one  side  with  armour  of  this  type  has 
been  discovered  which  cannot  apparently  be  any  part  of 
the  shell  of  a  turtle,  but  which  may  well  be  the  back-fin 
of  Zeuglodon.  And  as  the  aforesaid  bony  tubercles  of 
the  porpoises  are  always  found  on  or  near  the  back-fin,  it 
has  been  assumed  that  in  Zeuglodon  the  entire  dorsal  fin, 


ARMOUR-CLAD   WHALES  311 

as  well  as  some  portion  of  the  back,  was  covered  with  a 
complete  tesselated  armour  of  bony  plates. 

The  majority  of  the  living  toothed  whales  (inclusive  of 
porpoises  and  dolphins)  are  furnished  with  a  dorsal  fin, 
and  it  is  therefore  reasonable  to  suppose  (apart  from  the 
evidence  of  the  specimen  just  referred  to)  that  Zeuglodon 
was  similarly  provided;  and  if  this  be  so,  that  cetacean 
was  evidently  a  pelagic  creature.  For  the  function  of  a 
dorsal  fin  is  to  act  as  a  kind  of  keel  in  maintaining  the 
balance  of  the  body,  this  appendage  being  most  developed 
in  purely  pelagic  cetaceans  like  the  killer,  while  in  littoral 
or  fluviatile  forms  such  as  the  narwhal,  the  white  whale, 
and  the  Japanese  porpoise,  it  is  either  small  or  wanting. 
It  is,  further,  noticeable  that  cetaceans  with  pointed  muzzles 
(of  which  Zeuglodon  is  one)  nearly  always  have  a  larger 
back-fin  than  those  in  which  the  muzzle  is  short  and 
rounded.  In  the  whalebone  bones,  among  which  the 
dorsal  fin  is  either  small  or  wanting,  its  function  may  be 
discharged  by  the  keel  on  the  middle  of  the  upper  jaw, 
or,  owing  to  corporeal  bulk,  no  such  function  is  required 
at  all. 

If,  then,  we  are  right  in  regarding  Zeuglodon  as  a  pelagic 
cetacean,  it  is  evident  that  it  could  not  have  been  completely 
armoured,  but  that  such  armour  as  it  retained  was  merely 
a  survival  from  a  fully  armoured  non-pelagic  ancestor.  For 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  believe,  if  they  were  armoured  at 
all,  that  the  ancestral  form  was  not  invested  in  a  complete 
panoply,  at  least  on  the  dorsal  region. 

The  whole  argument  is  tersely  summed  up  as  follows 
by  Dr.  O.  Abel  (Beitr.  Pal.  Oster.-Ung.,  vol.  xiii.  p.  4, 
1901),  to  whom  naturalists  are  indebted  for  these  interesting 
researches. 

In  their  earliest  stage  of  development  the  toothed  whales 


3i2  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

were  full  armoured.  The  object  of  the  armour  was  as  a 
defence  against  enemies,  such  as  sharks,  such  an  armour 
being  also  very  valuable  to  animals  exposed  to  the  force 
of  a  strong  surf  on  rocky  shores.  As  the  creatures  took 
more  and  more  to  an  aquatic  life,  the  acquisition  of  greater 
speed  would  be  of  greater  value  to  them,  and  this  would 
be  accomplished  by  diminishing  the  specific  gravity  and 
friction  of  the  body,  the  shortening  of  the  extremities 
and  the  development  of  a  caudal  fin  to  serve  as  the  sole 
instrument  of  locomotion. 

Accordingly  the  armour  would  very  soon  be  lost  by  the 
pelagic  cetaceans  in  order  to  diminish  friction  and  lighten 
the  specific  gravity.  Only  among  certain  types,  which 
diverged  at  an  early  epoch  from  the  ancestral  stock  and 
took  to  a  fluviatile  or  estuarine  life,  did  vestiges  of  the 
armour  remain,  while  the  dorsal  fin  remained  undeveloped 
(Neophocaend).  That  in  this  form,  as  well  as  in  the  closely 
allied  true  porpoises  (Phocaena),  we  have  the  most  primitive 
type  of  living  toothed  whales,  is  confirmed  by  the  nature 
of  the  dentition  as  well  as  by  the  circumstance  that  in  this 
group  alone  the  premaxilla  is  toothed.  The  relation  of  the 
interparietal  to  the  parietal  bones  of  the  skull  is  likewise 
confirmatory  of  the  antiquity  of  the  porpoises. 

It  may  be  added  that  Zeuglodon  differs  from  modern 
cetaceans  by  the  characters  of  its  teeth,  those  of  the 
lateral  series  being  double-rooted  and  having  compressed 
and  serrated  crowns,  distantly  recalling  those  of  the  leopard- 
seal.  Between  Zeuglodon  and  the  shark-toothed  dolphins 
(Squalodori)  the  gap  is  very  great,  but  still  one  which 
might  readily  be  bridged  were  the  missing  links  forth- 
coming; and  as  it  is,  the  molars  of  the  one  type  seem 
derivable  from  those  of  the  other.  In  Squalodon  the  molars 
alone  retain  the  double-rooted  character  of  Zeuglodon,  and 


ARMOUR-CLAD   WHALES  313 

a  transition  from  the  former,  in  respect  of  tooth-characters, 
to  the  modern  dolphins  and  porpoises  is  afforded  by  Sauro- 
delphis,  of  the  Argentine  Pliocene,  in  which  the  roots  of  the 
teeth,  although  single,  are  elongated  antero-posteriorly  and 
thus  display  clear  evidence  of  their  original  duality.  By 
Dr.  Abel,  Saurodelphis  is  indeed  regarded  as  occupying 
the  middle  position  between  Squalodon  and  the  modern 
dolphins ;  the  porpoises  being  considered  to  form  a  side 
branch  which  diverged  from  the  main  stem  at  an  earlier 
date  than  the  appearance  of  the  genus  first  named. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  modern  investiga- 
tions tend  to  connect  the  ancestral  toothed  whales  with  the 
Carnivora,  and  in  no  wise  support  Sir  William  Flower's 
favourite  idea  that  these  cetaceans  trace  their  descent  from 
early  ungulates. 


SLOTHS  AND  THEIR  HAIR 

ALTHOUGH  the  name  "  sloth "  is  not  infrequently  mis- 
applied by  travellers  to  the  slow-lemurs  of  India  and 
the  Malay  countries,  or  to  their  cousins  the  galagos  of 
Africa,  it  should  properly  be  restricted  to  certain  peculiar 
mammals  inhabiting  the  tropical  forests  of  Central  and 
South  America.  In  addition  to  the  simple  character  of  their 
teeth,  which  are  confined  to  the  sides  of  the  jaws,  sloths 
are  characterised  by  their  short  faces,  rudimentary  tails, 
shaggy  coats,  and  hook-like  claws,  by  means  of  which 
they  hang  suspended,  back-downwards,  from  the  branches 
of  the  trees  among  which  their  lives  are  spent.  Two  very 
distinct  types  of  these  animals  are  known,  readily  distin- 
guished by  the  number  of  toes  on  the  fore-limb.  In  the 
one  form — the  three-toed  sloth — there  are  three  claws  on 
each  foot,  both  in  the  front  and  the  hind  limbs.  But  in 
the  other — the  two-toed  sloth — there  are  only  two  claws 
on  each  of  the  fore-feet. 

These,  however,  are  by  no  means  the  only  differences 
between  the  two  types  (and  I  say  types  rather  than 
species,  because  it  is  quite  probable  that  each  modification 
has  more  than  a  single  specific  representative).  In  the 
first  place,  there  is  a  difference  in  the  form  and  position 
of  the  first  tooth  in  each  jaw.  In  the  three-toed  sloth, 
or  a'i,  for  instance,  this  tooth  is  similar  in  form  to  those 
behind  it,  from  the  first  of  which  it  is  separated  by  a 

314 


SLOTHS   AND   THEIR   HAIR  315 

space  not  longer  than  the  one  between  the  second  and 
third.  In  the  two-toed  form,  on  the  other  hand,  the  first 
tooth  is  taller  than  those  behind,  and  has  a  bevelled 
instead  of  a  flat  grinding  surface,  while  the  space  dividing 
it  from  the  second  much  exceeds  that  between  any  of 
the  others.  Again,  the  front  of  the  upper  jaw  of  the 
two-toed  sloth  carries  a  T-shaped  bone,  corresponding  to 
the  premaxillae  of  other  mammals,  which  is  totally  wanting 
in  the  other  species.  The  front  of  the  lower  jaw  of  the 
former  is  also  prolonged  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  spout, 
of  which  there  is  no  trace  in  the  latter.  In  both  these 
respects  the  two-toed  sloth  comes  much  nearer  to  the 
extinct  ground-sloths  than  is  the  case  with  its  three-clawed 
cousin. 

Again,  if  the  males  of  the  three-toed  sloth  be  examined, 
there  will  be  seen  a  patch  in  the  middle  of  the  back  where, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  the  long  coarse  external  hair, 
the  presence  of  a  soft  orange  and  brown  under-fur  is 
shown.  It  has  been  stated  that  this  patch  of  under-fur 
is  made  visible  by  the  animals  rubbing  their  backs  against 
boughs  and  wearing  off  the  long  hair,  but  it  seems  much 
more  probable  that  it  is  a  sexual  character.  Of  this  under- 
fur  the  two-toed  sloth  has  but  a  very  imperfect  development. 

Apart  from  its  extremely  coarse  and  brittle  nature,  the 
most  striking  peculiarity  of  the  outer  hair  of  the  sloths  is 
its  more  or  less  decidedly  green  tinge.  To  see  this  in 
perfection  it  is  necessary  to  examine  living  animals,  as  it 
tends  to  fade  away  more  or  less  completely  in  skins 
long  exposed  to  the  light,  leaving  the  hair  of  a  pale  greyish 
brown  colour. 

Now  green  is  a  very  rare  colour  among  mammals,  and 
there  ought,  therefore,  to  be  some  special  reason  for  its 
development  in  the  sloths.  And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 


316  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

means  by  which  this  coloration  is  produced  is  one  of  the 
most  marvellous  phenomena  in  the  whole  animal  kingdom — 
so  marvellous,  indeed,  that  it  is  at  first  almost  impossible 
to  believe  that  it  is  true.  The  object  of  this  peculiar  type 
of  coloration  is,  of  course,  to  assimilate  the  animal  to  its 
leafy  surroundings  and  thus  to  render  it  as  inconspicuous 
as  possible  ;  and  when  hanging  in  its  usual  position  from 
the  under-side  of  a  bough,  its  long,  coarse,  and  green-tinged 
hair  is  stated  to  render  the  sloth  almost  indistinguishable 
from  the  bunches  of  grey-green  lichens  among  which  it 
dwells.  And  if  the  physical  means  by  which  this  green 
tinge  in  the  hair  of  the  sloths  is  produced  be  little  short 
of  marvellous,  what  is  to  be  said  with  regard  to  the  inducing 
cause  of  the  phenomenon  ?  But  of  this  anon. 

If  a  few  hairs  of  the  a'i  be  examined  under  the  microscope 
by  a  person  familiar  with  the  structure  of  hair  in  general, 
it  will  be  found  that  while  the  central  portion  consists  of 
what  is  technically  known  as  cortex  (and  not  of  the  medulla 
which  forms  the  core  of  the  hair  of  many  mammals),  the  outer 
sheath  is  composed  of  an  altogether  peculiar  structure,  for 
which  the  somewhat  cumbersome  name  of  extra-cortex  has 
been  proposed.  Possibly  it  may  correspond  to  the  thin 
cuticle  of  more  ordinary  hairs,  possibly  not ;  either  way,  it 
need  not  concern  us  further  on  this  occasion.  In  old  and 
worn  hairs  this  outer  sheath  (as  it  will  be  more  convenient 
to  call  it)  becomes  brittle  and  breaks  away  piecemeal,  leaving 
the  central  core  alone. 

But  in  ordinary  circumstances  the  sheath  tends  to  form 
a  number  of  transverse  cracks,  and  in  these  cracks  grows 
a  primitive  type  of  plant — namely,  a  one-celled  alga.  For 
the  benefit  of  my  non-botanical  readers  it  may  be  well  to 
mention  here  that  algas  (among  which  sea-weeds  are  in- 
cluded) form  a  group  of  flowerless  plants  related  on  the 


SLOTHS   AND   THEIR   HAIR  317 

one  hand  to  the  funguses  and  on  the  other  to  the  lichens. 
The  majority,  live  in  water — either  salt  or  fresh — compara- 
tively few  deriving  their  nourishment  from  the  moisture 
contained  in  the  air.  Some,  indeed,  are  confined  to  particular 
descriptions  of  rock,  and  possess  structures  recalling  roots, 
but  even  in  these  cases  it  is  doubtful  if  they  draw  more 
than  an  insignificant  fraction  of  their  nutriment  from  the 
substance  on  which  they  grow. 

In  the  moist  tropical  forests  forming  the  home  of  the 
sloths  the  algas  in  the  cracks  of  their  hairs  grow  readily, 
and  thus  communicate  to  the  entire  coat  that  general  green 
tint  which,  as  already  said,  is  reported  to  render  them 
almost  indistinguishable  from  the  clusters  of  lichen  among 
which  they  hang  suspended. 

"  In  thick  transverse  sections  of  the  hair,"  writes  Dr. 
Ridewood,  who  has  recently  investigated  the  structure  of 
sloth-hair,  "  these  algal  bodies  show  up  very  clearly,  since 
they  stain  deeply,  and  have  a  sharply  defined  circular  or 
slightly  oval  outline.  Unless  the  hair  is  much  broken,  they 
are  confined  to  the  outer  parts  of  the  extra-cortical  layer." 

Not  the  least  curious  phase  of  a  marvellous  subject  is 
that  the  two-toed  sloth,  although  the  structure  of  its  hair 
is  very  different  from  that  of  the  a'i,  also  has  an  alga, 
which  belongs  to  a  species  quite  distinct  from  the  one 
found  in  the  former. 

In  the  two-toed  sloth  the  hairs  lack  the  outer  sheath 
investing  those  of  the  a'l,  and  consist  chiefly  of  the  central 
core  or  cortex ;  in  other  words,  they  correspond  to  those 
hairs  of  the  latter  from  which  the  outer  sheath  has  been 
shed.  The  surface  of  these  hairs  is  distinctly  furrowed 
with  longitudinal  grooves  or  channels,  and  it  is  in  these 
channels  that  the  alga  distinctive  of  this  particular  species 
is  lodged  and  flourishes.  After  stating  that  a  solution 


3i8  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

capable  of  exhibiting  the  absorption  bands  of  the  vegetable 
colouring-matter  chlorophyll  can  be  obtained  from  the  hairs 
of  this  animal,  Dr.  Ridewood  gives  the  following  particulars 
with  regard  to  their  structure  : — 

"  The  hairs  are,  as  a  rule,  coarse,  and  with  a  single  curve 
extending  over  the  greater  part  of  the  length,  while  the 
basal  fourth  or  so  is  wavy;  but  in  young  specimens,  and 
in  some  apparently  adult  examples  from  Costa  Rica,  the 
hair  is  very  delicate  and  soft,  and  sinuous  from  base  to 
point.  However,  in  these  forms  the  hairs  .  .  .  have  only 
two  or  three  furrows  instead  of  the  more  usual  nine,  ten, 
or  eleven.  The  algas,  also,  are  quite  absent  from  many  of 
the  grooves.  When  such  an  empty  groove  is  examined 
in  optical  section  it  exhibits  the  outlines  of  obsolete  extra- 
cortical  cells.  ...  In  baby  specimens  more  than  half  of 
the  hairs  are  slender  non-medullate  cylinders,  with  a  very 
distinct  scaly  cuticle,  and  no  grooves  on  the  surface." 

These  simple  hairs  are,  in  fact,  the  only  rudiments  of 
an  under-fur  possessed  by  the  two-toed  sloth,  or  unau. 

It  may  be  added  that  in  the  extinct  ground-sloths  (the 
skin  of  one  of  which  has  been  preserved  in  a  cave  in 
Patagonia)  the  hairs  are  solid,  without  any  trace  of  the  outer 
sheath  of  those  of  the  a'i,  or  of  the  flutings  characterising 
those  of  the  unau.  These  are  thus  evidently  of  a  less 
specialised  type  than  is  the  hairy  covering  of  the  modern 
tree-sloths,  as  indeed  would  naturally  be  expected  to  be 
the  case  in  the  members  of  the  ancestral  group  from  which 
the  latter  probably  trace  their  descent. 

The  above,  then,  are  the  essential  facts  with  regard  to 
the  peculiarities  of  their  hair  by  means  of  which  the  sloths 
are  brought  into  such  special  and  remarkable  harmony  with 
their  environment,  and  it  now  remains  to  consider  how  best 
to  explain  their  origin. 


SLOTHS   AND   THEIR   HAIR  319 

Of  all  the  problems  with  which  the  naturalist  has  to 
deal,  those  connected  with  the  "mimicry"  of  one  animal 
by  another,  or  the  special  resemblances  by  certain  animals  to 
their  inanimate  surroundings,  are  some  of  the  most  difficult, 
and  the  present  instance  forms  no  exception  to  this  rule,  if 
it  is  believed  that  "  natural  selection/'  or  some  such  mode 
of  evolution,  has  been  the  sole  factor  in  the  case. 

In  this  instance,  at  any  rate,  there  can  be  no  question  as 
to  any  volition  on  the  part  of  the  animal  concerned  having 
aided  in  the  development  of  its  protective  resemblance. 
And,  on  the  hypothesis  of  natural  selection,  it  appears 
necessary  to  assume  that  when  the  modern  type  of  sloths 
was  first  evolved  no  alga  grew  in  the  hair  of  these  animals, 
which  were  consequently  able  to  exist  and  flourish  without 
any  such  adventitious  aid.  The  nature  of  their  hair  formed, 
however,  in  the  case  of  each  of  the  two  groups,  a  con- 
venient nidus  for  the  lodgment  and  growth  of  an  alga ; 
and  such  a  suitable  situation  was  accordingly  in  each 
instance  seized  on  as  a  habitat  by  one  of  those  lowly 
plants.  At  first,  of  course,  only  a  certain  number  of 
sloths  would  have  had  alga-producing  hair,  and  these, 
from  the  green  tinge  of  their  coats,  would  consequently 
enjoy  a  better  chance  of  escape  from  foes  than  would  their 
brethren  which  had  not  yet  acquired  the  greenish  garb. 
And,  on  the  assumption  that  alga-growing  hair  is  in- 
herited, their  progeny  would  consequently  have  the  best 
chance  of  winning  in  life's  race.  It  is,  of  course,  not 
difficult  to  assume  that  when  the  alga  had  once  become 
firmly  established  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  hair  of  each 
group  it  acquired  in  both  cases  distinct  specific  characters, 
even  if  there  were  not  originally  two  kinds  of  these  plants 
concerned. 

And  here  arises  one  of  the  many  difficulties  connected 


320  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

with  this  sort  of  explanation.  It  is  quite  clear  that  an 
alga  would  have  been  of  no  advantage  to  the  sloths  until 
they  had  acquired  their  present  completely  arboreal  kind 
of  life,  and  since  there  is  a  considerable  probability  that 
both  types  of  these  animals  were  independently  derived 
from  some  of  the  smaller  ground-sloths,  it  follows  that  on 
two  separate  occasions  an  alga  has  independently  taken 
advantage  of  this  suitable  vacant  situation  and  adapted 
itself  to  its  new  surroundings.  This  difficulty,  like  the 
one  connected  with  sloths  having  flourished  before  they 
acquired  a  lichen-growth,  may  appear  of  little  importance 
to  those  who  are  convinced  of  the  all-sufficiency  of  natural 
selection,  but  to  others  it  may  (if  well  founded)  seem  more 
serious. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  structure  of  the  hair  in 
the  two  types  of  sloth  is,  each  in  its  own  way,  absolutely 
peculiar,  and  has  therefore  doubtless  some  special  purpose. 
And,  to  put  it  shortly,  the  question  consequently  is  whether 
these  two  types  of  hair  structure  were  specially  developed 
for  the  reception  and  growth  of  algas  designed  to  aid  in 
the  protection  of  the  animals  in  which  they  occur,  or  whether 
such  development  has  taken  place  for  some  totally  different 
object,  and  that  the  subsequent  growth  of  the  algas,  and 
the  additional  protection  thereby  afforded,  have  been  purely 
fortuitous.  The  fact  that  the  hairs  themselves  assimilate 
the  body  of  the  sloth  to  a  lichen-clad  knot  shows  that 
their  peculiar  character  is  largely  protective,  and  it  would 
be  a  most  curious  coincidence  had  this  protective  resemblance 
been  enhanced  by  an  accidental  growth  of  algas. 

As  regards  the  manner  in  which  the  growth  of  algas  is 
maintained  in  the  sloths  from  one  generation  to  another, 
the  only  rational  explanation  which  presents  itself  is  that 
the  young  sloths  become  infected  with  alga- spores  from 


SLOTHS   AND   THEIR   HAIR  321 

their  parents.  As  already  mentioned,  in  very  young 
individuals  of  the  two-toed  sloth  a  large  proportion  of  the 
hairs  are  devoid  of  grooves ;  and  it  would  therefore  seem 
that  the  young  sloths  do  not  develop  a  growth  of  alga  till 
about  the  time  they  are  old  enough  to  leave  the  maternal 
arms  and  hang  independently  on  the  leafy  and  lichen-clad 
boughs  of  their  native  forests.  . 


21 


BLIND  CAVE-ANIMALS 

TRUE  cave-animals — that  is,  those  which  are  blind  and  more 
or  less  completely  colourless,  and  spend  their  whole  time 
in  utter  darkness — must  be  sharply  distinguished  from 
creatures  like  bats  and  owls,  which  take  advantage  of  such 
situations  as  a  temporary  shelter,  from  which  they  issue 
forth  at  night  to  the  outer  world.  And  as  most  of  these 
are  more  or  less  closely  allied  to  animals  which  enjoy  the 
full  light  of  day,  one  of  the  first  things  that  strikes  one 
is  why  they  have  given  up  the  joys  of  an  ordinary  exist- 
ence, to  pass  what  appears  to  us  to  be  a  miserable  life 
in  total  darkness.  Whatever  be  the  true  explanation  of 
this,  it  is  of  course  easy  to  understand  why  they  should 
have  lost  their  eyes,  and  also  the  coloration  characteristic 
of  their  outer-world  relatives. 

A  curious  parallel  exists  between  the  inhabitants  of  caves 
and  those  creatures  dwelling  in  the  dark  abysses  of  the 
ocean  depths;  both  dwelling  in  situations  entirely  cut  off 
from  the  smallest  trace  of  daylight,  and  both  being  descended 
from  animals  living  either  in  the  air  or  water  under  the 
ordinary  conditions.  In  one  point,  however,  a  remarkable 
difference  exists  between  the  two.  Cave-animals,  as  already 
said,  are  content  to  crawl  or  swim  in  Cimmerian  darkness, 
whereas  the  finny  and  other  denizens  of  the  depths  of  the 
ocean  possess  organs  giving  forth  a  brilliant  phosphorescent 
light,  and  likewise  other  organs  by  which  they  can  perceive 

322 


BLIND   CAVE-ANIMALS  323 

such  light,  and  are  thus  able  to  see  and  capture  their  prey 
with  ease.  In  the  absence  of  such  artificial  light  and  special 
modes  of  vision,  cave-animals  are  of  course  compelled  to 
rely  solely  on  their  organs  of  touch,  hearing,  and  perhaps 
of  smell;  and,  to  our  thinking  at  least,  their  life  must  be 
far  more  dreary  and  devoid  of  pleasure  than  is  that  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  deep  sea.  Possibly,  however,  there  may 
be  other  compensating  advantages  unknown  to  us;  and, 
in  any  case,  they  lead  a  life  of  peace  unmolested  by  the 
various  carnivorous  tyrants  of  the  outer  world.  It  is, 
however,  very  noteworthy  that  there  is  one  blind  fish 
inhabiting  the  ocean  at  great  depths,  and  that  a  member 
of  the  same  family  is  also  found  in  the  caves  of  Cuba; 
and  this  instance  seems  to  indicate  that  certain  families 
of  fishes  are  better  suited  than  others  for  taking  to  a 
subterranean  existence. 

Caves  or  subterranean  channels  containing  the  typical 
blind  fauna  are  met  with  in  many  countries,  apparently 
invariably  in  limestone  rocks,  and  mostly  in  those  belong- 
ing to  the  Carboniferous  epoch ;  the  latter,  from  their 
massiveness,  being  especially  adapted  for  the  formation  of 
such  chambers  by  the  action  of  water.  Needless  to  say, 
the  formation  of  a  cavern  of  any  size  in  solid  limestone 
rock  is  a  process  involving  an  enormous  length  of  time 
for  its  accomplishment,  and  it  is  therefore  essential  that 
the  rock  should  be  of  very  considerable  geological  age. 
Indeed,  it  is  believed  that  the  formation  of  the  celebrated 
Mammoth  Cave  was  commenced  at  a  comparatively  early 
date  in  the  Secondary  era,  although  it  was  not  completed 
till  the  Pleistocene.  The  reader  must  not,  however,  be 
led  to  suppose  that  cave-animals  belong  to  an  older  epoch 
than  those  of  the  outside  world,  as  it  is  probable  that 
many  of  them  have  not  taken  to  their  present  mode  of 


324  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

existence    before    the    later    Pliocene   or    early    Pleistocene 
period. 

Caves  of  sufficient  dimensions  to  have  developed  a  special 
fauna  of  their  own  are  met  with  in  so  many  parts  of  the 
world,  that  it  would  be  tedious  to  give  a  list  even  of  those 
which  are  most  generally  known.     Among  those  that  have 
attained    the   widest   degree   of  celebrity   is  the    Mammoth 
Cave,  situated  in  a  hill  of  limestone  in  Edmonston  County, 
a  little  to  the  south-west  of  the  centre  of  Kentucky.     This 
enormous  cave  is  adorned  with  the  most  beautiful  stalactitic 
and  other  deposits,  which,  when  lit  by  the  magnesium  or 
the    electric    light,    form    an    enchanting    sight.       Messrs. 
Packard  and    Putman   write   that    "in  the  drier   localities, 
where  the   floors   are   dusty   and   everything   indicates  the 
prolonged  absence  of  moisture,   the  ceiling  is  covered  with 
a  white  efflorescence,  that  displays  itself  in  all  manner  of 
beautiful  shapes.     It  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination 
to  discover  among  these  the  perfect  form  of  many  flowers. 
The   lily-form   prevails,   and  the   ceilings   of  many   of  the 
chambers     are   covered    with    this    beautiful    stucco-work, 
surpassing  in  delicacy  and  purity  the  most  beautiful  work- 
manship of  man.     These  are  not  produced  by  the  dripping 
of  water,  and  the  gradual  deposit  of  sulphate  of  lime  upon 
the  outer  portions.     The  stalactite  is  formed  in  this  manner ; 
but  these  are  neither  stalactitiform  nor  are  they  produced 
in  a  similar  way.     The  efflorescence  in  the  drier  portions  of 
the  cave  cannot  take  place  where  there  is  much  moisture. 
The  growth  of  these  beautiful  forms  is  from  within,  and  the 
outer  extremities  are  produced  first.     They  are  the  result 
of  a   sweating   process   in   the   limestone,    that   forces   the 
delicate   filaments    of    which    they   are   composed    through 
the   pores   upon    the   surface   of  the    rock,    their   beautiful 
curved  forms  resulting  from  unequal  pressure  at  the  base, 


BLIND   CAVE-ANIMALS  325 

or    friction     in     the    apertures     through    which    they    are 
forced." 

Another  well-known  American  example  is  the  Wyandotte 
Cave,  traversing  the  Carboniferous  lijnestone  of  Crawford 
County  in  south-western  Indiana.  Of  this  cave,  Prof.  Cope 
wrote  in  1872  that  he  was  not  aware  whether  its  length 
had  ever  been  accurately  determined,  "  but  the  proprietors 
say  that  they  have  explored  its  galleries  for  twenty-two 
miles,  and  it  is  probable  that  its  extent  is  equal  to  that 
of  the  Mammoth  Cave.  Numerous  galleries  which  diverge 
from  its  known  courses  in  all  directions  have  been  left 
unexplored."  The  fact  that  the  blind  cave-fish  appears  to 
occur  in  all  the  subterranean  waters  flowing  through  the 
great  Carboniferous  limestone  region  of  the  central  districts 
of  the  United  States,  suggests  that  the  Mammoth  and 
Wyandotte  Caves  are  in  communication.  Almost  equally 
celebrated  are  certain  caves  in  the  island  of  Cuba,  which 
are  also  traversed  by  subterranean  streams.  In  Europe, 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  cave  is  that  of  Adelsberg  in 
Carniola,  as  being,  together  with  certain  other  caves  in 
Carinthia  and  Dalmatia,  the  sole  habitat  of  that  strange 
creature,  the  olm  or  proteus,  so  graphically  described 
many  years  ago  by  Sir  Humphry  Davy.  Although  the 
Carinthian  and  Dalmatian  forms  of  this  creature  differ 
slightly  from  the  Carniolan  type,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  subterranean  waters  of  all  the  three  countries 
are,  or  were  at  a  comparatively  recent  date,  in  free  com- 
munication. Several  caves  with  the  blind  fauna  are  met 
with  in  Western  Europe,  some  of  the  most  notable  being 
those  in  various  parts  of  the  South  of  France  ;  but  the 
only  one  in  the  British  Islands  is  Mitchelstown  Cave,  near 
Fermoy,  in  Ireland,  which  is  excavated  in  the  Carboniferous 
limestone. 


326  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

The  animal  of  the  highest  zoological  position   occurring 
among  the  true  cave-fauna  is  the  aforesaid  olm,  which  is 
the  sole  representative  of  the  genus  Proteus,  and  is  allied 
to   the  ordinary   salamanders   and   newts.      The  olm   is   a 
somewhat  eel-like  creature,  measuring  about  eleven  inches 
in  length,   and   with   a   uniformly  flesh-coloured  skin,    save 
that  the  branching  external  gills  are  brilliant  scarlet.     The 
limbs  are  very  short  and  weak,  the  front  pair  being  provided 
with  three  and  the  hinder  with  two  toes,  and  the  eyes  are 
completely  hidden.     Now  it  is  a  most  remarkable  fact  that 
the    only   other   salamander   referred    to   the    same    family 
(Proteidae)  as  the  olm  is  a  peculiar  North  American  species 
with  well-developed  eyes,  four  toes  to  each  foot,  and  a  dark 
brown   skin,  which  constitutes  the  genus  Necturus.     From 
this  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  ancestral  type  of  the  two 
genera    formerly   inhabited   the   northern    hemisphere,   and 
that  while   its    transatlantic   descendant   has   preserved  the 
primitive  number  of  toes  and  adhered  to  an  ordinary  mode 
of  life,  the  European  species  has  become  more  specialised 
in    regard   to   its   limbs,    and  has   taken    to   a    completely 
subterranean  existence.     According  to  Sir  Humphry  Davy 
the  olm  only  makes  its  appearance  in  the  Adelsberg  grotto 
when  the  waters  rise  to  an  unusual  height,  remaining  at 
other  periods  in  the  streams  flowing  beneath  its  floor. 

The  only  other  vertebrate  animals  belonging  to  the  true 
cave-fauna  are  fish  of  several  species.  By  far  the  most 
celebrated  among  these  is  the  well-known  blind-fish 
(Amblyopsis  spelaea),  which  has  been  taken  in  both  the 
Mammoth  and  the  Wyandotte  Caves,  as  well  as  in  the 
intervening  subterranean  waters.  This  fish  is  the  typical 
representative  of  a  small  family  allied  to  the  cyprinodonts, 
which  are  themselves  relatives  of  the  carps.  It  is  quite 
destitute  of  external  eyes,  and  its  body  is  completely 


BLIND   CAVE-ANIMALS  327 

colourless ;  but  its  sense  of  hearing  is  extraordinarily 
developed.  In  the  typical  form  this  fish  has  a  small  pair 
of  pelvic  fin's,  but  in  some  examples  (which  have  been 
referred  to  a  distinct  genus  under  the  name  of  Typhlichthys) 
these  are  wanting.  The  maximum  length  is  five  inches. 
Prof.  Cope  writes  that  if  these  fish  "  be  not  alarmed, 
they  come  to  the  surface  to  feed,  and  swim  in  full  sight 
like  white  aquatic  ghosts.  They  are  then  easily  taken  by 
hand  or  net,  if  perfect  silence  is  observed,  for  they  are 
unconscious  of  the  presence  of  an  enemy  except  through 
the  medium  of  hearing.  This  sense  is,  however,  evidently 
very  acute,  for  at  any  noise  they  turn  suddenly  downward, 
and  hide  beneath  stones,  etc.,  at  the  bottom.  They  must 
take  much  of  their  food  near  the  surface,  as  the  life  of  the 
depths  is  apparently  very  sparse." 

The  only  other  genus  in  the  family  is  known  as  Cholo- 
gaster,  and  differs  from  the  last  in  the  retention  of  small 
external  eyes,  and  likewise  in  the  skin  being  coloured. 
Pelvic  fins  are  absent,  and  the  front  of  the  head  is  provided 
with  two  horn-like  appendages.  These  small  fish  were  first 
known  from  three  examples  taken  in  the  ditches  of  the  South 
Carolina  rice-fields ;  but  another  specimen  was  caught  in  a 
well  in  Lebanon  County,  Tennessee,  in  the  year  1854.  They 
appear  to  have  taken  to  a  partially  subterranean  life  com- 
paratively recently,  and  therefore  retain  their  eyes  and  dark 
coloration. 

Although  these  cave-fish  are  clearly  allies  of  the  cyprino- 
donts,  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  they  are  directly 
descended  from  any  member  of  that  family.  A  clear  descent 
is,  however,  indicated  by  a  very  remarkable  family  of  fishes 
known  as  the  Ophidiidae,  which  are  near  relatives  of  the 
cod  tribe.  With  the  single  exception  of  the  cave-fish  of 
the  caves  of  Cuba  (Lucifuga  dentata]^  all  the  members  of 


328  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

the  family  are  marine  forms,  some  inhabiting  shallow  water, 
while  others  are  found  only  at  great  depths.  Now  the 
Cuban  blind  fish,  in  which  the  eyes  are  totally  wanting 
or  rudimentary,  is  a  very  close  ally  of  a  marine  form 
named  Brotula,  in  which  the  eyes  are  fully  developed,  and 
has  evidently  been  specially  modified  from  the  former  for 
a  subterranean  existence.  The  barbels,  which  are  present 
in  the  marine  fish,  are  replaced  in  the  cave  form  by  minute 
tubercles.  This,  however,  is  not  the  only  point  connected 
with  this  curious  family,  as  there  are  two  species,  belonging 
to  as  many  genera  (Typhlonus  and  Aphyonus),  found  at  great 
depths  in  the  southern  oceans,  which  are  also  completely 
blind,  and  apparently  have  no  phosphorescent  organs.  And 
it  would  appear  from  these  examples  that  the  fish  of  this 
family  have  some  special  disposition  towards  a  life  of 
darkness. 

The  only  other  fish  that  can  be  said  to  belong  to  the 
cave-fauna  is  a  member  of  the  great  fresh-water  family  of 
cat-fishes  (Szlurzdae),  and  has  been  named  by  Prof.  Cope 
Gronias  nigrilabris.  This  fish,  which  attains  a  length  of 
about  ten  inches,  is  closely  allied  to  an  ordinary  fresh- 
water American  form,  and  occurs  in  the  Conestoga  River 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  it  is  stated  to 
be  occasionally  taken  by  the  fishermen,  and  is  believed 
to  issue  from  a  subterranean  stream  said  to  traverse  the 
limestone  of  that  district,  and  to  discharge  into  the  Conestoga 
River.  Although  blind,  the  fish  has  a  rudimentary  eye,  and 
is  therefore  in  process  of  modification  for  a  completely  sub- 
terranean life. 

To  refer  in  detail  to  the  invertebrate  inhabitants  of  caves 
would  far  exceed  my  allotted  limits,  and  only  a  few  words 
can  be  said  on  this  part  of  the  subject.  Among  the  most 
interesting  are  the  blind  cray-fish,  in  the  ordinary  form  of 


BLIND   CAVE-ANIMALS  329 

which  (Cambarus)  the  eyes  are  rudimentary  in  the  adult, 
but  larger  in  t  the  young,  thus  affording  conclusive  evidence 
of  their  descent  from  forms  fully  endowed  with  vision. 
Prof.  Cope  has,  however,  described  one  cray-fish  from  the 
Wyandotte  Cave  in  which  the  eyes  are  completely  wanting. 
Among  the  insects,  there  is  a  totally  blind  beetle  (Ano- 
phthalmus)  belonging  to  the  family  of  Carabidae,  or  ground- 
beetles,  from  the  American  caves;  while  those  of  France 
and  Ireland  have  yielded  a  blind  and  colourless  spring-tail 
(Lipurd).  Wingless  grasshoppers  are  abundant,  but  these, 
at  least  generally,  can  see.  Centipedes  and  spiders  are 
also  common,  one  of  the  former  from  the  Mammoth  Cave 
being  totally  blind,  while  others  retain  their  eyes.  In  the 
European  species  of  cave-spiders  (Parrhoma)  the  eyes  are 
excessively  minute,  and  tend  to  become  obsolete;  but  it 
is  noteworthy  that  these  creatures  belong  to  a  genus  in 
which  the  eyes  are  small  even  in  the  open-air  kinds. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  all  cave-animals  are  descended 
from  allied  forms  living  in  the  outer  world,  and  that  in 
many  cases  they  belong  to  families  which  appear  specially 
adapted  for  modification  to  a  subterranean  existence. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  discoveries  is  the  close 
alliance  between  creatures  inhabiting  caves  widely  remote 
from  one  another.  Writing  of  the  animals  of  the  Mitchels- 
town  Cave,  Mr.  G.  H.  Carpenter  observes  that  the  spring- 
tail  "  is  hardly  to  be  separated  from  a  species  found  in  the 
caves  of  Carniola,  and  the  Sinella  (another  blind  and  bleached 
insect)  is  almost  identical  with  one  inhabiting  the  caves  of 
North  America ;  while  the  spider  is  apparently  the  same  as 
a  cave-dweller  from  the  Mediterranean  district  of  Southern 
France,  which  probably  occurs  in  the  North  American 
caverns  also.  .  .  .  Any  possible  geographical  connection 
which  would  permit  the  migration  of  subterranean  animals 


330  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

between  Southern  Europe  or  Ireland,  or  between  Ireland 
and  North  America,  seems  altogether  out  of  the  question 
within  any  period  during  which  the  fauna  can  have  been 
specifically  identical  with  that  of  the  present  day.  The 
only  conclusion  is  that  from  ancestors,  presumably  of  the 
same  genus,  which  took  to  an  underground  life  in  such 
widely  separated  localities,  the  similar  conditions  of  the 
caves  have  evolved  descendants  so  similar  that  when  com- 
pared they  cannot,  or  can  hardly,  be  specifically  distinguished 
from  each  other." 

Should  these  identifications  be  confirmed,  it  will  be  evident 
that  the  same,  or  closely  allied  species,  have  originated  inde- 
pendently in  different  caves,  and  although  the  author  cited 
is  of  opinion  that  this  phenomenon  may  only  hold  good  with 
regard  to  cave-animals,  it  is  possible  that  it  may  be  found 
also  to  exist  in  the  outer  world,  since  it  has  been  suggested 
that  the  horses  (Equus)  have  originated  independently  in 
the  Old  and  New  Worlds  from  different  ancestral  stocks. 


GIANT  LAND-TORTOISES 

IN  the  long-past  days  when  the  plains  of  India  were  the 
home  of  the  mighty  sivatherium  and  of  still  more  gigantic 
elephants  and  mastodons,  while  its  rivers  were  tenanted 
by  hippopotamuses  and  huge  long-snouted  gharial-like 
crocodiles,  that  country  was  likewise  inhabited  by  the 
most  gigantic  land-tortoise  of  which  we  at  present  have 
any  knowledge.  When  fragments  of  its  fossilised  shell 
and  more  or  less  nearly  complete  specimens  of  its  limb- 
bones  came  under  the  notice  of  its  original  describers,  it 
was  thought,  indeed,  that  they  indicated  a  creature  of 
truly  colossal  proportions,  the  length  of~the  shell  in  a 
straight  line  being  estimated  at  no  less  than  12  ft.  3  in. 
In  a  restoration  of  the  shell  made  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  discoverers  of  the  species,  and  still  exhibited 
in  the  geological  department  of  the  Natural  History 
Museum,  the  length  was  reduced  to  a  little  over  eight 
feet.  But  even  these  reduced  dimensions  appear  to  be 
considerably  in  excess  of  the  reality,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  maximum  length  did  not  much  exceed  six  feet. 
A  shell  of  this  size  considerably  exceeds,  however,  that  of 
any  modern  land-tortoise,  so  that  the  Siwalik  tortoise,  or 
Testudo  atlas,  as  it  is  scientifically  called,  is  fully  entitled 
to  rank  as  the  real  giant  of  its  kind. 

But    the    Siwalik    tortoise   was    by    no  means   the   only 
giant  species  inhabiting  India  during  the    Pliocene  epoch, 

331 


332  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

as  remains  of  other,  although  smaller,  forms  have  been 
discovered  in  the  same  deposits.  The  nearest  living  ally 
of  the  Siwalik  species  appears  to  be  Testudo  emys,  of  the 
countries  east  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  in  which  the  shell 
does  not  much  exceed  a  foot  in  length.  Both  kinds  have 
the  front  end  of  the  lower  shell  produced  and  notched, 
although  the  production  and  notching  are  much  more 
pronounced  in  the  extinct  form.  Both  also  have  the  horny 
shield  immediately'  above  the  tail  double,  instead  of  (as  is 
usually  the  case)  single ;  and  in  both  the  skin  of  the  legs 
contained  embedded  nodules  of  bone. 

The  Pliocene  deposits  of  the  South  of  France  have  also 
yielded  remains  of  a  giant  land-tortoise  (7".  perpiniana), 
with  a  shell  about  four  feet  in  length,  and  likewise  furnished 
with  bony  nodules  in  the  skin  of  the  limbs.  And  from 
the  caves  of  Malta  have  been  obtained  bones  of  yet 
another  very  large  species  (7".  robusta),  apparently  allied 
to  the  recently  extinct  T.  inepta  of  Mauritius. 

Going  farther  afield,  we  find  evidence  of  the  existence, 
during  late  Tertiary  times,  of  giant  land-tortoises  in  North 
America,  while  some  imperfect  shells  attest  the  former 
occurrence  of  another  species  in  Patagonia.  It  may  be, 
therefore,  assumed  that  during  the  Pliocene,  and  perhaps 
a  portion  of  the  Miocene  epoch,  land-tortoises  of  huge 
size  were  spread  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  warmer 
countries  of  the  globe. 

With,  or  before,  the  close  of  the  Pliocene  division  of 
geological  time,  these  great  reptiles  seem,  however,  to  have 
utterly  vanished  from  all  the  continents  of  the  world,  and 
to  have  continued  to  exist  only  in  certain  islands,  from 
some  of  which  they  likewise  disappeared  before  or  during 
the  early  portion  of  the  historic  period,  while  others  have 
become  extinct  quite  recently.  Whether  these  island  giant 


GIANT   LAND-TORTOISES  333 

tortoises  are  the  direct  descendants  of  the  species  which 
once  inhabited  the  nearest  continents,  or  whether  they 
have  been  independently  developed  from  smaller  forms  in 
or  near  their  own  habitats,  is  a  question  by  no  means  easy 
to  answer.  Neither  is  it  any  less  difficult  to  account  for 
the  complete  disappearance  (apparently  without  human 
intervention)  of  all  the  continental  forms.  Although  the 
Siwalik  mastodons,  elephants,  sivatheres,  giraffes,  hippo- 
potamuses, and  other  large  mammals  all  died  off,  yet 
many  of  them  left  descendants  (collateral  or  direct)  in 
either  India  or  Africa  ;  and  this  makes  it  the  more  strange 
that  not  a  single  descendant  of  any  of  the  Pliocene 
giant  land-tortoises  should  have  survived  in  any  one  of 
the  five  continents.  Such,  however,  is  the  case,  explain  it 
how  we  may. 

Since  the  Pliocene  epoch  giant  tortoises  have  been  re- 
stricted to  two  widely  sundered  groups  of  islands.  In 
modern  times  the  islands  most  famous  for  these  tortoises 
are  those  of  the  Galapagos  group,  which  take  their  title 
from  one  of  the  Spanish  names  (galdpago)  for  a  tortoise, 
and  are  situated  on  the  equator,  a  comparatively  short 
distance  off  the  western  coast  of  South  America.  All  the 
other  "  tortoise-islands "  are  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  where 
they  lie  (with  the  exception  of  the  lower  extremity  of 
Madagascar)  within  the  southern  tropic,  off  the  African 
coast.  By  far  the  largest  of  these  islands  is  Madagascar, 
which  has  long  been  inhabited  by  man,  and  from  which 
the  tortoises  (perhaps  in  consequence  of  his  occupation) 
disappeared  ages  before  the  historic  period,  being  known 
to  us  only  by  their  sub-fossilised  remains.  Between  the 
northern  point  of  Madagascar  and  Africa  lie  the  islands  of 
the  Comoro  group,  which  had  also  native  inhabitants  of 
their  own ;  and  from  these  islands  the  tortoises  likewise 


334  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

disappeared  at  an  early  date.  All  the  other  tortoise-islands 
in  the  Indian  Ocean  were  inhabited.  They  include  the 
Aldabra  group,  north-west  of  Madagascar,  where  the  few 
tortoises  now  remaining  in  the  south  island  are  under 
Government  protection,  the  Mascarenhas,  or  Mascarene 
group  (Reunion,  or  Bourbon,  Mauritius,  and  Rodriguez), 
the  Amirantes,  and  the  Seychelles.  None  of  the  Mascarene 
species  survive  in  their  proper  home,  and  all  were  thought 
to  be  extinct,  although  a  specimen  has  turned  up  from 
a  distant  island,  to  which  it  had  been  carried.  Much  the 
same  may  be  said  with  regard  to  the  Seychelle  tortoises, 
which  were  exterminated  long  ago  in  their  proper  habitat. 
There  seems,  however,  to  be  good  reason  for  believing 
that  a  few  survivors  of  the  species  have  been  preserved  in 
islands  to  which  they  had  been  transported  in  ships.  This 
transportation  of  tortoises  from  one  island  to  another  has 
indeed  added  considerably  to  the  difficulty  of  unravelling 
the  complicated  history  of  the  group,  a  specimen  of  the 
South  Aldabra  tortoise  having  been  carried  to  one  of  the 
islands  of  the  Chagos  group,  to  the  south  of  the  Maldives, 
whence  it  was  subsequently  transported  to  Mauritius. 

The  accounts  left  by  the  early  voyagers  show  that  in  the 
Mascarene  and  other  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  as  well 
as  in  those  of  the  Galapagos  group,  the  tortoises  formerly 
existed  in  enormous  numbers.  As  regards  the  Galapagos 
islands,  it  is  remarkable  that  there  are  no  small-sized 
species;  and  the  same  holds  good  for  the  islands  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  with  the  exception  of  Madagascar,  where 
there  is  one  comparatively  small  form  (7!  radiatd).  It 
should  be  added  that,  if  we  except  Madagascar  (where 
there  is  one  moderate-sized  carnivore),  none  of  the  tortoise- 
islands  were  ever  the  home  of  large  and  predatory 
mammals.  This  naturally  suggests  the  idea  that  the 


GIANT   LAND-TORTOISES  335 

survival  in  these  islands  of  the  reptiles  under  consideration 
is  entirely  due  to  the  absence  of  such  mammals.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  giant 
Siwalik  tortoise  lived  in  a  land  where  large  mammals — 
both  carnivorous  and  herbivorous — absolutely  swarmed ; 
and  the  same  was  also  the  case  with  the  other  extinct 
continental  species  referred  to  above.  Moreover,  we  have 
no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  large  tortoises  on  the 
continents  of  the  world  at  an  epoch  before  the  advent  of 
large  mammals.  Still,  the  absence  of  the  latter  from 
practically  all  the  tortoise-islands  is  a  fact  that  cannot  be 
disregarded,  and  must  almost  certainly  have  had  a  very 
great  influence  on  the  development  of  their  chelonian 
inhabitants. 

In  regard  to  the  numbers  in  which  giant  tortoises 
formerly  existed  on  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  very 
few  words  must  suffice.  Writing  in  1691,  the  French 
traveller  Fransois  Leguat  stated  that  in  Rodriguez  the 
tortoises  covered  the  ground  so  thickly  that  in  places  you 
might  walk  a  hundred  paces  or  more  by  stepping  from  the 
back  of  one  on  to  that  of  another.  In  Mauritius,  though 
apparently  less  abundant,  they  were  still  very  numerous 
down  to  1740;  and  there  is  ample  testimony  that  during 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  they  also  swarmed 
on  Reunion,  although  not  a  single  specimen  of  the  species 
indigenous  to  that  island  has  been  preserved.  The  ease 
with  which  these  reptiles  could  be  captured  and  carried 
off,  and  the  facility  with  which  they  could  be  kept  alive  on 
board,  coupled  with  the  large  amount  of  excellent  meat 
yielded  by  each,  rendered  them  a  valuable  food-supply  to 
the  crews  of  ships,  and  it  was  far  from  uncommon  for 
•vessels  leaving  Mauritius  to  carry  off  a  cargo  of  four 
hundred  at  a  time,  while  in  1759  one  of  four  vessels 


336  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

specially  engaged  in  carrying  tortoises  from  Rodriguez  to 
Mauritius  took  six  thousand  at  once.  Such  a  drain  could 
not  but  tell  rapidly  on  the  supply,  and  by  the  early  part 
of]  the  last  century  the  Mascarenes  were  denuded  of  their 
tortoise-fauna. 

The  Malagasy  tortoise  (Testudo  grandidieri)  appears,  as 
already  said,  to  have  been  exterminated  before  Europeans 
had  any  knowledge  of  the  islands,  but  beautifully  pre- 
served shells  (wanting  the  horny  shields)  have  been  dis- 
covered, three  of  which  are  exhibited  in  the  Natural 
History  Museum.  Among  the  Mascarene  tortoises,  most 
of  which  are  distinguished  from  those  of  Aldabra  by  their 
long  thick  necks  and  the  absence  of  a  nuchal  shield*  to 
the  shell,  five  or  six  species  are  known  in  a  sub-fossil 
state  from  Mauritius.  To  one  of  these  (T.  indicd)  special 
interest  attaches  from  the  circumstance  that  till  about  1871 
all  the  tortoises  from  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean  were 
referred  to  by  that  name.  Of  equal  interest,  although 
from  a  totally  different  point  of  view,  is  the  Rodriguez 
tortoise  (T.  vosmaeri),  on  account  of  the  extreme  tenuity 
of  its  bony  shell — a  feature  shared  by  certain  of  the 
Galapagos  species,  and  indicative  that  the  thick  shell 
characteristic  of  tortoises  generally  is  not  required  by  the 
island  forms  which  have  no  enemies. 

A  tortoise  received  in  company  with  two  others  from  the 
Seychelles  in  1894  by  Mr.  Rothschild,  and  now  living  at 
Tring,  is  believed  to  be  one  of  the  Mascarene  species,  with 
which  it  agrees  in  the  characters  referred  to  above.  It 
may  have  come  from  one  of  the  smaller  islands,  and  thus 
be  different  from  any  of  the  named  forms,  although  it 
is  difficult  to  determine  this  during  its  life.  Very  little 

*  The  nuchal  shield  is  the  single  symmetrical  horny  plate  found 
in  the  middle  line  of  the  front  margin  of  the  shell  of  most  tortoises. 


GIANT   LAND-TORTOISES  337 

appears  to  be  known  of  the  Reunion,  Comoro,  and 
Amirante  tortoises,  but  it  is  stated  by  Mr.  Rothschild 
that  the  one  from  Reunion  differed  from  all  the  other 
Mascarene  forms,  and  resembled  those  from  Aldabra. 
Special  interest  attaches  to  the  history  of  the  surviving 
representatives  of  the  presumed  Seychelle  tortoise,  which 
has  been  named  T.  sumeirei.  It  appears  that  in  the  year 
1766  five  giant  tortoises  from  the  Seychelles  were  taken 
to  Mauritius  by  the  Chevalier  Marion  de  Fresne,  and  have 
been  since  known  as  Marion's  tortoises.  In  1833  one» 
which  died  soon  after,  was  brought  to  the  London  Zoo- 
logical Gardens,  where  a  second  arrived  some  years  later. 
A  third  was  received  in  1898,  but  did  not  long  survive 
its  journey.  The  other  two  are  still  living  in  Mauritius. 
By  far  the  most  celebrated  of  these  latter  is  the  one  in 
the  Royal  Artillery  Barracks  at  Port  Louis.  It  is  now 
nearly  blind,  although  otherwise  in  good  health.  The 
shell  measures  about  forty  inches  in  a  straight  line,  and 
is  reported  to  have  been  of  that  size  so  long  ago  as 
1810.  Probably  this  tortoise  was  at  least  a  century 
old  when  first  brought  to  Mauritius  nearly  one  hundred 
and  forty  years  ago.  In  its  long  thick  neck,  and  the 
absence  of  a  nuchal  shield,  Testudo  sumeirei  agrees  with 
the  Mascarene  species,  and  as  it  is  quite  different  from  the 
Aldabra  forms,  Mr.  Rothschild  considers  that  its  original 
home  was  the  Seychelles,  whence  Marion  brought  his 
specimens — probably  some  of  the  last  survivors  of  their 
kind — to  Mauritius  as  curiosities.  Possibly  the  tortoise 
brought  in  1798  from  the  Seychelles  to  Colombo,  where 
it  survived  till  1897,  may  have  been  of  the  same  species. 
The  length  of  its  shell  is  fifty- three  and  a  half  inches,  or 
only  an  inch  and  a  half  less  than  that  of  the  great  South 
Aldabra  tortoise  noticed  below. 

22 


338  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Passing  on  to  the  Aldabra  tortoises,  distinguished  by 
their  short  necks  and  the  presence  of  a  nuchal  shield,  we 
have  first  to  notice  that  the  only  member  of  the  group 
surviving  in  a  wild  state  in  its  native  habitat  is  the  South 
Aldabra  Testudo  daudini.  Very  remarkable  is  the  history 
of  a  male  of  this  species  received  by  Mr.  Rothschild  in 
1897,  which  is  the  largest  known  example  of  modern  giant 
tortoises,  the  length  of  the  carapace  in  a  straight  line 
being  no  less  than  fifty-five  inches,  or  only  nineteen  inches 
short  of  the  length  assigned  to  that  of  the  extinct  T.  atlas. 
This  monster,  whose  original  home  was  South  Aldabra, 
lived  for  many  years  on  Egmont  Island,  in  the  Chagos 
group,  whence  it  was  taken  by  its  owner,  M.  L.  Antelme, 
to  Mauritius,  and  thence  sent  to  England.  It  is  currently 
reported  to  have  lived  in  Egmont  for  a  century  and  a  half, 
but  since  the  Chagos  group  was  only  colonised  from 
Mauritius  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  there  is 
some  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  statement.  Any- 
way, this  tortoise  must  have  been  of  a  prodigious  age  at 
the  time  of  its  death.  During  its  sojourn  on  Egmont 
Island  this  tortoise  used  to  bury  itself  and  become  dormant 
for  half  the  year — a  most  remarkable  fact  in  a  tropical 
island.  South  Aldabra  is  a  coral  island  very  difficult  to 
traverse,  so  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  obtain  a  sight  of 
the  tortoises.  Seven  were,  however,  captured  and  exported 
in  1895,  of  which  six  reached  Europe  alive. 

The  second  species  of  Aldabra  tortoise  (T.  giganlea) 
formerly  inhabited  the  north  and  central  islands  in  great 
abundance,  but  is  now  known  solely  by  individuals  intro- 
duced by  the  planters  into  the  Seychelles,  where  they  are 
kept  in  a  state  of  semi-domestication,  and  by  a  single 
specimen  in  St.  Helena.  There  appear  to  be  two  races  of 
this  species — namely,  the  typical  form,  in  which  the  shell 


From  a  photograph  by  S.  G.  Payne,  by  permission  or  the  Hon.  Walter  Rothschild.\ 

THE  GIANT  TORTOISE  OF  SOUTH  ALDABRA  ISLAND. 

[To  j  ace  p.  338 


GIANT   LAND-TORTOISES  339 

is  depressed,  with  the  horny  shields  nearly  smooth,  and 
T.  gigantea  elephantina,  in  which  the  shell  is  highly  convex, 
with  the  shields  on  the  back  marked  by  conspicuous  con- 
centric striations.  In  some  instances  the  shield  immediately 
above  the  tail  is  divided,  as  in  the  extinct  Siwalik  tortoise. 
The  shell  of  a  male  of  this  species  received  by  Mr.  Roth- 
schild in  1893  measured  forty  and  a  quarter  inches  in  length 
(in  a  straight  line)  four  years  later.  The  St.  Helena  example 
is  said  to  have  lived  in  that  island  for  more  than  a  century. 
It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  survivors  of  the 
North  Aldabra  tortoise  should  have  been  preserved  in  the 
Seychelles,  while  those  of  the  species  believed  to  be 
indigenous  to  the  latter  islands  have  been  kept  in  captivity 
in  Mauritius. 

In  1894  Mr.  Rothschild's  specimen  of  the  North 
Aldabra  tortoise  weighed  327  lb.,  but  by  1897  its  weight 
had  increased  to  358  lb.  These  weights  are,  however, 
vastly  exceeded  by  that  of  the  great  South  Aldabra 
tortoise,  which  scaled  no  less  than  560  lb. ;  this  was, 
however,  immediately  after  its  journey  to  England,  during 
which  it  had  become  much  emaciated,  so  that  these  figures 
afford  no  real  criterion  of  its  proper  weight.  Of  the  habits 
of  the  North  Aldabra  tortoise  at  Tring,  its  owner  wrote 
as  follows :  "  Whenever  the  temperature  is  over  sixty 
(60°  Fahr.),  this  tortoise  has  a  fine  run  of  350  acres  of 
grass  park,  but  on  the  temperature  falling  to  sixty,  it  is 
kept  in  a  shed,  and  when  once  the  temperature  shows 
permanently  below  58°  Fahr.,  it  is  put  in  an  orchid-house 
— *>.,  from  September  to  June.  When  at  liberty  in  the 
park  it  lives  entirely  on  grass,  but  in  the  hothouse  feeds 
on  carrots,  cabbages,  lettuce,  and  several  other  vegetables. 
It  is  very  fond  of  rotten  fruit." 

Of  the  habits  of  the  giant  tortoises   of  the   islands   of 


340  MOSTLY  MAMMALS 

the  Indian  Ocean  in  a  state  of  nature  we  know  practically 
nothing,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  South  Aldabra  alone 
are  any  members  of  the  group  living  in  a  wild  condition, 
and  that  accurate  observation  is  there  practically  impos- 
sible. Of  the  mode  of  life  of  the  Galapagos  species  we 
have  comparatively  full  accounts;  but  limitations  of  space 
render  it  impossible  on  the  present  occasion  to  refer 
further  to  these  species,  either  as  regards  their  distinctive 
characteristics  or  their  history  and  habits.  I  have  only 
to  add  that  readers  of  this  volume  are  indebted  to  Mr. 
Rothschild  for  the  loan  of  the  photograph  illustrating 
this  article. 


SOME    STRANGE    NURSING    HABITS 

WHILE  the  instinct  of  taking  care  of  their  progeny,  whether 
these  are  born  in  the  living  stage  or  first  come  into  the 
world  in  the  form  of  eggs,  is  more  or  less  deeply 
implanted  in  the  higher  vertebrates,  among  the  lower 
members  of  that  great  group  the  eggs  and  young  are 
very  frequently  left  to  shift  for  themselves.  Still  this 
state  of  things  is  by  no  means  universally  the  case;  and 
I  shall  show  in  the  course  of  the  present  article  that 
certain  amphibians  and  fishes  exhibit  structural  modifica- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  protecting  their  eggs  and  young, 
which  are  almost  or  quite  unparalleled  elsewhere.  Cele- 
brated as  they  mostly  are  on  account  of  their  highly 
developed  parental  instincts,  birds  exhibit  no  instances 
where  the  body  of  either  parent  is  specially  modified 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  about  either  the  young  or 
the  eggs  after  their  extrusion.  And  I  believe  that  the 
same  holds  good  with  regard  to  reptiles,  although  into 
the  disputed  question  whether  vipers  afford  protection  to 
their  young  by  allowing  them  to  run  down  their  throats 
I  am  not  going  to  enter  here,  beyond  confessing  that  I 
am  inclined  to  trust  the  numerous  observers  who  state 
that  they  have  seen  the  phenomenon  with  their  own  eyes. 
With  certain  groups  of  mammals — notably  the  marsupials 
— the  case  is,  however,  different,  many  of  them,  like  the 
kangaroos,  carrying  their  imperfectly  developed  young  in 

341 


342  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

a  special  pouch  borne  on  the  body  of  the  female  until 
sufficiently  advanced  to  take  care  of  themselves.  In  the 
females  of  certain  other  members  of  the  same  order — 
namely,  some  of  the  American  opossums — the  young  are 
carried  on  the  parental  back,  with  their  own  tails  tightly 
twisted  round  that  of  their  mother.  In  another  group,  the 
female  spiny  ant-eater,  or  echidna,  carries  about  her  egg  in  a 
pouch  developed  in  the  breeding  season  on  the  under-surface 
of  her  body.  Most  bats  carry  their  helpless  offspring  tightly 
clinging  to  their  breasts,  and  the  females  of  many  lemurs 
bear  them  clinging  transversely  across  the  under-surface  of 
the  lower  part  of  their  bodies.  There  is,  however,  one  bat — 
namely,  the  naked  Chiromeles  torquata — in  which  both  sexes 
are  provided  with  a  pouch  on  the  chest.  In  this  pouch  the 
female  carries  her  offspring ;  and'  it  is  thought  probable  that 
when  there  are  two,  the  male  may  assist  his  partner  by 
relieving  her  of  one.  Among  mammals,  such  instances  are 
rare,  but  among  amphibians  there  are  numerous  instances 
where  the  eggs  or  young  are  carried  about,  either  attached 
to  the  skin  or  borne  in  special  receptacles. 

Commencing  with  that  group  of  amphibians  represented 
by  the  frogs  and  toads,  we  find  among  these  various 
instances  of  abnormal  ways  of  protecting  their  young 
during  the  early  stages  of  development,  one  of  which  has 
been  known  for  nearly  a  couple  of  centuries,  while  many 
of  the  others  have  but  recently  been  described.  So  far 
back  as  the  year  1705,  Fraulein  Sibylla  von  Merian,  in  a 
work  on  the  reptiles  of  Surinam,  described  a  remarkable 
toad-like  creature,  in  which  the  young  are  carried  in  a 
series  of  cells  in  the  thick  skin  of  the  back  of  the  female, 
which  at  this  period  has  a  honeycomb-like  appearance. 
Till  a  few  years  ago,  when  a  living  example  was  received 
by  the  London  Zoological  Society,  the  Surinam  toad  (Pipa 


SOME  STRANGE   NURSING   HABITS  343 

americana),  as  the  animal  in  question  is  called,  was,  I 
believe,  only  known  in  Europe  by  means  of  specimens 
preserved  in  spirit;  and  we  have,  therefore,  been  obliged 
to  depend  upon  foreign  observers  for  an  account  of  its 
marvellous  life-history.  As  it  differs  from  other  members 
of  its  order  with  regard  to  its  method  of  bringing  up  its 
family,  so  the  Surinam  toad  is  structurally  more  or  less 
unlike  all  its  kindred,  constituting  not  only  a  genus,  but 
likewise  a  family  group  by  itself.  Externally  it  is  charac- 
terised by  its  short  and  triangular  head,  which  is  furnished 
with  a  large  flap  of  skin  at  each  corner  of  the  mouth,  and 
has  very  minute  eyes.  The  four  front  toes  are  quite  free, 
and  terminate  in  expanded  star-like  tips ;  but  a  large  web 
unites  the  whole  five  toes  of  the  hind-foot.  In  any  state 
the  creature  is  by  no  means  a  beauty,  but  when  the  female 
is  carrying  her  nursery  about  with  her  she  is  absolutely 
repulsive  in  appearance.  It  would  seem  that  soon  after 
the  eggs  are  laid,  they  are  taken  up  by  the  male  and 
pressed,  one  by  one,  into  the  cells  in  the  thickened  skin 
of  his  partner's  back  ;  there  they  grow  till  they  fit  closely 
to  the  hexagonal  form  of  their  prisons,  each  of  which  is 
closed  above  by  a  kind  of  trap-door.  After  a  period  of 
some  eighty-two  days,  the  eggs  reach  their  full  develop- 
ment and  produce,  not  tadpoles,  but  actually  perfect  little 
toads.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  tadpoles,  which  require 
to  breathe  the  air  dissolved  in  water  by  means  of  their 
external  gills,  could  not  exist  in  the  cells,  and,  conse- 
quently, this  stage  of  the  development  is  passed  through 
very  rapidly  within  the  egg.  When  ready  to  come  forth, 
the  young  toads,  which  are  usually  from  sixty  to  seventy 
in  number,  although  there  may  sometimes  be  over  a 
hundred,  burst  cpen  the  lids  of  their  cells,  and,  after 
stretching  forth  their  heads  or  a  limb,  make  their  debut 


344  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

in  the  world.  Doubtless  glad  to  be  free  from  her  charge, 
the  mother-toad  thereupon  rubs  off  what  remains  of  the 
cells  against  any  convenient  stone  or  plant-stem,  and 
comes  out  in  all  the  glory  of  a  brand-new  skin,  only, 
before  long,  to  undergo  the  whole  process  over  again. 

The  Surinam  toad  is,  however,  by  no  means  the  only 
South  American  representative  of  its  order  whose  nursery 
arrangements  are  peculiar,  a  considerable  number  of  frogs 
and  toads  from  the  warmer  regions  of  the  New  World 
having  ideas  of  their  own  as  to  the  proper  method  of 
bringing  up  a  young  family.  Among  these  are  certain 
species  nearly  allied  to  the  familiar  tree-frogs  of  Europe, 
but  differing  in  that  the  females  have  a  large  pouch  for 
the  reception  of  the  eggs.  Unlike  the  kangaroos  and 
other  mammalian  marsupials,  in  which  the  female  has  her 
nursing-pouch  on  the  under-side  of  the  body,  these  mar- 
supial frogs  (Nototremd)  have  this  receptacle  placed  on  the 
back,  at  the  hinder  end  of  which  it  forms  a  half-open 
tunnel,  with  its  aperture  directed  backwards,  although  the 
pouch  extends  beneath  the  skin  of  the  whole  of  the  upper 
surface  of  the  body.  In  this  capacious  nursery  are  deposited 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  large  eggs,  which  in  due  course 
develop  into  complete  little  frogs,  without  living  tadpoles 
being  produced,  although  at  a  certain  stage  the  large  eyes 
and  long  tail  of  a  veritable  tadpole  are  visible  through  the 
clear  covering  of  the  egg. 

According  to  a  communication  made  by  Dr.  Goeldi,  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  to  the  Zoological  Society,  the  tree-frogs 
of  the  genus  Hyla  inhabiting  that  part  of  Brazil  show 
considerable  diversity  in  regard  to  nursing  habits,  although 
none  of  them  have  any  part  of  their  own  body  modified 
into  a  nursery.  One  species,  for  instance,  builds  nests  of 
mud  on  the  shallow  borders  of  pools,  wherein  the  eggs 


SOME   STRANGE   NURSING   HABITS  345 

and  tadpoles  are  protected  from  enemies  ;  while  another 
kind  lays  its  eggs  in  a  slimy  mass  attached  to  withered 
banana-leaves,  the  young  remaining  in  this  nest  until  they 
have  passed  through  the  tadpole  stage.  In  a  third  species, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  larval  stages  are  hurried  through 
before  hatching,  the  female  carrying  a  load  of  eggs  on 
her  back,  where  they  remain  until  developed  into  perfect 
frogs.  Some  years  ago  a  female  of  this  species  was 
exhibited  alive  at  a  meeting  of  the  Zoological  Society  thus 
loaded. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  all  the  foregoing  instances 
the  female  parent  takes  charge  of  the  eggs,  either  on  or 
in  her  own  body,  or  in  a  specially  prepared  nest,  as  soon 
as  they  are  laid ;  but  there  are  two  genera  of  South 
American  frogs  in  which  it  appears  that,  while  the  eggs 
are  left  to  themselves,  the  tadpoles  are  carried  about  by 
their  mother.  The  members  of  the  one  genus  (Dendrobates) 
are  tree-frogs  from  Surinam  and  Brazil,  while  the  other 
species  is  from  Venezuela,  and  belongs  to  the  genus 
Phyllobates.  Here  the  tadpoles,  which  may  be  from  a 
dozen  to  eighteen  in  number,  affix  themselves  to  the  body 
of  their  mother  by  their  sucking  mouths,  and  are  thus 
carried  about.  In  the  case  of  one  species  of  the  genus 
first  named,  it  appears  that  this  mode  of  locomotion  is 
only  resorted  to  when  the  water  is  drying  up  and  the 
mother  desires  to  convey  her  offspring  to  other  pools ;  but 
in  the  other  forms  the  attachment  seems  to  be  more 
enduring. 

The  female  of  Darwin's  frog  (Rhinoderma  darwini\  from 
Chili,  has,  however,  "  gone  one  better  "  than  all  her  allies, 
for  not  only  does  she  get  her  eggs  and  young  safely  carried 
about  until  they  are  fit  to  take  care  of  themselves,  but  she 
has  actually  shifted  the  onerous  task  of  taking  care  of 


346  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

them  to  her  consort.  Whereas  there  is  nothing  remarkable 
about  the  structure  of  the  female  of  this  frog,  the  male 
has  a  capacious  pouch  underlying  the  whole  of  the  lower 
surface  of  the  body,  which  communicates  with  the  exterior 
by  means  of  a  pair  of  apertures  opening  into  the  mouth 
on  each  side  of  the  tongue.  As  soon  as  his  partner  iias 
deposited  her  eggs,  the  male  frog  takes  them  in  his  front 
paws  and  transfers  them  to  his  mouth,  whence  they  pass 
into  the  great  nursing-pouch,  where  they  remain  in  perfect 
security  till  hatched  into  young  frogs,  which  make  their 
way  into  the  world  by  the  same  passage. 

Peculiar  as  is  this  method  of  taking  care  of  the  eggs,  it 
is  by  no  means  altogether  without  a  parallel  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  although  we  have  to  go  to  the  class  of  fishes  to 
find  anything  approaching  a  similar  example.  Among  the 
so-called  cat-fishes  (Siluridae),  the  males  of  several  species 
of  the  large  tropical  genus  Arms  take  the  eggs  into  their 
mouth,  whence  they  are  transferred  to  the  capacious 
pharynx,  where  they  remain  until  hatched.  It  is  also  said 
that  among  the  fresh- water  fishes  of  the  chromid  family, 
the  males  of  the  typical  genus  inhabiting  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  take  charge  of  the  eggs  in  a  similar  manner. 
Indeed,  among  the  comparatively  few  fishes  that  take  any 
care  at  all  of  their  ova,  the  charge  almost  invariably  falls 
to  the  share  of  the  long-suffering  male,  whose  partner, 
having  laid  the  eggs,  appears  to  think  that  she  has  done 
quite  enough  in  family  matters,  and  is  at  full  liberty  to 
enjoy  herself  as  she  pleases. 

Of  the  two  definitely  known  instances  in  which  female 
fish  take  care  of  their  eggs,  one  occurs  among  the  aforesaid 
family  of  the  cat-fishes,  in  the  genus  Aspredo,  represented 
by  some  half-dozen  species  from  the  Guianas.  In  these 
fish,  none  of  which  exceed  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length,  the 


SOME  STRANGE   NURSING   HABITS  347 

large  eggs  are  carried  on  the  under-surface  of  the  body  of 
the  female,  wtiere  they  form  a  shield-like  mass  extending 
from  a  short  distance  behind  the  mouth  on  to  the  pelvic 
fins.  In  some  respects  the  position  of  the  ova  recalls  a 
female  fresh-water  cray-fish  in  the  breeding  season ;  but 
a  closer  resemblance  exists  between  the  fish  in  question 
and  the  Surinam  toad  already  described,  although  in  one 
case  the  female  bears  her  load  upon  her  back,  and  in  the 
other  upon  her  abdomen.  In  both  instances  the  eggs  are, 
however,  pressed  into  the  soft  spongy  skin,  the  female 
cat-fish  effecting  this  operation  by  lying  closely  upon  the 
newly  deposited  spawn.  Instead  of  being  completely 
buried  in  closed  cells,  the  eggs  of  the  fish  remain  partly 
exposed,  and  are  thus  carried  about  till*  they  are  hatched ; 
the  rugosities  then  disappear  from  the  skin  of  the  abdomen 
of  the  parent,  which  resumes  its  normal  smoothness. 

Everybody  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of  partaking  of 
whitebait  will  probably  have  occasionally  observed  among 
the  contents  of  his  plate  a  long,  slender,  bony  fish,  with 
a  pipe-like  nose,  which  has  evidently  no  claim  to  kindred 
with  its  neighbours.  This  fish  is  a  young  representative 
of  the  pipe-fishes,  which,  together  with  the  so-called  sea- 
horses, so  well  known  for  their  habit  of  curling  their  tails 
round  the  stems  of  seaweed,  constitute  a  family  especially 
remarkable  for  the  variety  and  curious  nature  of  their 
nursery  arrangements.  Among  these  an  Oriental  genus  of 
small  pipe-fishes  (Solenostoma)  agrees  with  the  fish  last 
mentioned  in  that  the  female  takes  charge  of  the  eggs. 
For  this  purpose  she  is  provided  on  the  lower  surface  of 
her  body  with  a  roomy  pouch,  formed  by  the  coalescence 
of  the  pelvic  fins  with  the  skin  of  the  abdomen.  The 
inner  walls  of  this  pouch  are  furnished  with  long  filaments, 
which  aid  in  keeping  the  egg  in  position;  and  it  is  highly 


348  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

probable  that  after  the  young  fish  are  hatched  they  are 
retained  for  some  time  by  attachment  to  the  walls  of  the 
chamber.  In  the  true  pipe-fishes  (Syngnathus),  on  the 
other  hand,  the  task  of  looking  after  the  nursery  falls  to 
the  males,  which  are  provided  with  a  long  pouch  on  the 
under-surface  of  the  tail,  formed  by  a  fold  of  skin  arising 
on  each  side,  and  the  two  meeting  in  the  middle  line. 
How  the  eggs  are  conveyed  into  this  pouch  I  am  totally 
unaware,  but  when  once  there,  they  are  completely  enclosed 
by  the  junction  of  the  edges  of  the  two  folds  of  skin,  and 
thus  remain  till  they  are  hatched  into  minute  eel-like  pipe- 
fish, which  soon  make  their  way  into  the  world  by  thrusting 
open  the  folds  of  the  pouch.  In  the  sea-horses  the 
development  is  carried  one  stage  farther,  the  nursing- 
pouch  being  completely  closed  along  the  middle  line,  and 
only  communicating  with  the  exterior  by  means  of  a  small 
aperture  at  the  anterior  end,  through  which  the  eggs  are 
by  some  means  or  other  introduced,  and  by  which  in  due 
course  the  young  make  their  escape.  Certain  pipe-fishes 
(Doryichthys)  differ  from  the  ordinary  forms  in  that  the 
males  have  the  pouch  situated  beneath  the  abdomen  instead 
of  under  the  tail;  and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  in 
certain  allied  genera  (Nerophis,  etc.)  the  eggs  are  simply 
attached  to  the  lower  surface  of  the  abdomen  of  the  male 
without  the  development  of  a  pouch.  We  have  thus  an 
excellent  instance  of  the  evolution  of  a  special  organ,  so 
far  as  the  abdominal  pouch  is  concerned ;  but  it  would  seem 
highly  probable  that  the  caudal  pouch  of  the  allied  forms 
must  have  been  independently  evolved,  in  which  event 
we  should  have  a  remarkable  example  of  parallelism  in 
development. 

Although    many   fishes   retain    their    eggs   within    their 
bodies  until  the  young  are  hatched  and  attain  a   consider- 


SOME  STRANGE   NURSING  HABITS  349 

able  size,  I  am  not  aware  that  any  others  have  special 
arrangements  fbr  carrying  about  their  eggs  after  extrusion, 
with  the  exception  of  the  aberrant  lung-fish  (Protopterus) 
of  tropical  Africa.  In  this  genus  the  numerous  eggs  and 
embryos  are  reported  to  be  nursed  in  a  long  gelatinous 
pouch  attached  to  the  sides  of  the  back  of  one  of  the 
parents,  although  which  of  the  two  is  charged  with  this 
office  does  not  appear  to  be  ascertained.  Several  kinds  of 
fish  are,  however,  in  the  habit  of  constructing  nests  for  the 
reception  of  their  eggs,  while  a  few  take  advantage  of  other 
animals  for  their  protection.  For  instance,  the  females 
of  the  small  roach-like  fishes  of  which  the  continental 
bitterling  (Rhodeus  amarus)  is  the  only  European  example, 
have  the  oviduct  pieriodically  prolonged  into  a  tube  of 
considerable  length,  by  means  of  which  the  eggs  are 
introduced  within  the  shells  of  living  fresh-water  bivalve 
molluscs,  where  they  remain  secure  from  foes  until  hatched. 
Among  the  nest-building  species  the  most  familiar  are  the 
bullheads  (Cottus),  sticklebacks  (Gastrosteus},  and  lump- 
suckers  (Cyclopterus),  in  all  of  which,  as  in  the  other 
instances,  the  nest  is  formed  and  guarded  by  the  male 
fish.  In  the  sea-stickleback  the  nest  is  a  large  structure 
composed  of  pendent  seaweeds,  tightly  bound  together  into 
a  pear-shaped  mass  by  means  of  a  silk-like  thread.  When 
the  eggs  are  safely  deposited  within  its  interior,  the  male 
fish  immediately  mounts  guard,  and  has  been  known  to 
continue  uninterruptedly  at  his  post  for  upwards  of  three 
weeks.  Should  any  damage  happen  to  the  nest,  so  that 
the  precious  eggs  lie  open  to  the  attack  of  any  predaceous 
wanderer,  the  janitor  forthwith  sets  to  work  with  the 
greatest  energy  to  repair  the  damage,  poking  his  nose  into 
the  structure,  and  rearranging  the  materials  till  all  is  made 
right.  Nests  are  also  made  by  the  fresh-water  species,  and 


350  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

guarded  with  the  same  care ;  the  male  not  unfrequently 
stirring  up  the  eggs  with  his  snout,  and  often  keeping  up 
a  fan-like  movement  of  his  fins  for  the  apparent  purpose 
of  ensuring  a  continual  change  of  the  water. 

As  nest-building  fishes  are  comparatively  rare,  much 
interest  attached  to  an  account  in  the  American  Naturalist, 
by  Messrs.  Young  &  Cole,  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
brook-lamprey  (Lampetra  wilderi)  makes  a  structure  of  this 
nature.  It  is  believed  that  the  males  precede  the  females 
at  spawning  time  and  commence  nest-building  before  the 
arrival  of  the  latter.  The  nest  is  made  among  pebbles,  but 
it  does  not  seem  that  the  lampreys  follow  any  definite  plan 
in  its  construction.  They  affix  themselves  to  such  pebbles 
as  require  removing  from  the  nest,  and  then  endeavour  to 
swim  straight  away  with  them.  In  the  case  of  a  heavy  stone 
two  lampreys  may  join  forces.  The  number  of  fish  in  a 
nest  may  vary  from  one  to  thirty  or  forty;  but  there  are 
generally  between  three  and  twenty-five. 

Even  when  no  nest  is  built,  the  males  of  some  fishes  mount 
guard  over  the  eggs ;  this  being  the  case  with  the  bow-fin 
(Amia  calva\  so  abundant  in  the  lakes  of  North  America. 

Such  are  some  of  the  chief  instances  among  amphibians 
and  fishes  where  special  arrangements — either  of  structure 
or  of  habit — are  made  for  the  protection  of  the  eggs  and 
young;  and  although  these  bear  but  a  small  proportion  to 
the  cases  where  the  latter  are  left  to  themselves,  yet  they 
are  sufficient  to  show  that  in  these  respects  these  two 
groups  present  peculiarities  almost  or  quite  unknown  among 
other  vertebrates.  Why  such  special  arrangements  have 
been  evolved  in  these  cases,  or  whether  the  groups  in  which 
they  occur  have  any  advantage  in  the  struggle  for  existence 
over  their  fellows,  are  questions  which,  for  the  present  at 
least,  must  remain  unanswered 


THE    COLOURS    OF    COWRIES 

AMONG  all  the  treasures  of  the  shell-cabinet  few  are  more 
generally  attractive  than  the  cowries,  or  kauris  (Cypraea), 
which  form  the  type  of  a  family  by  themselves.  Rivalling 
the  olives  in  the  brilliancy  of  their  polished  enamel,  they 
exceed  those  shells  in  the  beauty  and  diversity  of  their 
coloration,  while  their  form  in  the  adult  state  is  so  peculiar 
as  to  attract  the  attention  of  even  the  most  unobservant. 
Possibly  the  very  fact  that  many  of  them  are  so  common 
as,  like  the  tiger  and  Surinam-toad  cowry,  to  be  employed 
as  decorative  objects  for  our  chimney-pieces,  has,  to  a 
certain  extent,  detracted  in  popular  estimation  from  their 
many  striking  peculiarities.  But  even  if  this  be  so,  a 
moment's  comparison  with  any  other  shell  will  at  once 
show  how  different  they  really  are.  And  if  rarity  be  an 
additional  attraction,  some  among  the  couple  of  hundred  or 
so  of  living  species  are  worthy  of  attention,  even  from 
this  not  very  elevated  standpoint.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  prince  cowry  (C.  princeps)  and  the  spotted  cowry 
(C.  guttata\  examples  of  which  have  sold  respectively  for 
forty  and  forty-two  pounds ;  while  the  beautiful  orange 
cowry,  used  as  a  head  ornament  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Friendly 
Islands,  formerly  fetched  about  twenty  pounds,  although 
good  specimens  can  now  be  bought  at  from  three  to  five 
pounds.  Other  species  claim  attention  on  account  of 
their  commercial  uses,  the  ring  cowry  being  employed  by 

351 


352  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

the  islanders  of  Eastern  Asia  for  personal  adornment,  for 
weighting  their  fishing  nets,  and  as  a  means  of  exchange; 
while  in  the  latter  respect  the  well-known  money  cowry  has 
a  still  more  extensive  use  over  a  large  part  of  Asia. 

But  it  is  from  the  peculiarities  of  their  structure  and 
coloration  that  these  beautiful  shells  claim  our  attention  in 
the  present  article.  Taking  any  common  species,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  upper  surface  of  the  shell  approaches  more 
or  less  to  an  egg-shape,  with  a  notch  at  each  extremity 
forming  the  terminations  of  the  mouth  below.  Somewhat 
to  the  right  of  the  middle  line  in  most  species  runs  a 
straight  or  slightly  sinuous  line  over  which  the  pattern  of 
the  rest  of  the  upper  surface  does  not  extend,  this  line 
marking  in  the  living  animal  the  limits  of  the  right  and 
left  lobes  of  the  so-called  mantle,  which  during  activity 
extends  upwards  from  the  foot  on  which  the  creature 
crawls  to  develop  the  rest  of  the  shell.  Compared  with 
an  olive,  in  which  the  spire  is  relatively  small,  the  shell  of 
an  adult  cowry  differs  by  the  rudimentary  condition  or 
even  absence  of  a  spire ;  while  on  the  under-surface  the 
narrow  mouth  of  the  shell  (not,  be  it  understood,  of  the 
animal)  is  remarkable  for  the  series  of  vertical  ridges,  or 
"teeth,"  with  which  its  edges  are  armed. 

Now,  since  almost  all  other  univalve  shells  related,  even 
remotely,  to  the  cowries,  have  a  more  or  less  elongated 
spire  at  the  hinder  or  upper  end,  the  inquirer  naturally 
seeks  to  find  out  the  reason  for  the  disappearance  of  this 
part  in  the  members  of  the  present  group.  In  a  fully 
adult  specimen  of  the  common  black-spotted  tiger  cowry 
no  trace  at  all  of  the  spire  can  be  detected,  but  in  the 
equally  common  Surinam-toad  cowry  a  more  or  less  distinct 
remnant,  partly  buried  in  the  abundant  cement,  is  observable 
even  in  the  adult.  In  Scott's  cowry  the  spire  is  much 


THE  COLOURS   OF  COWRIES  353 

more  pronounced,  and  in  a  half-grown  specimen  of  the 
same  species  •  is  so  elongated  as  to  project  considerably 
beyond  the  hinder  extremity  of  the  shell.  Moreover,  in 
immature  examples  of  this  species  the  hinder  extremity 
of  the  right  margin  of  the  shell  is  expanded  into  a  wing- 
like  extension,  recalling  the  wing-shells,  or  Strombidae. 
In  both  the  adult  and  the  young  of  Scott's  cowry  the 
coloration  is  very  similar ;  but  in  the  young  of  the  Surinam- 
toad  cowry  there  is  a  difference  both  in  form  and  in 
colour  from  the  adult.  In  form  the  shell  has  a  distinct 
spire,  and  a  thin  outer  lip;  and  in  still  younger  examples 
these  characters  are  more  exaggerated,  the  mouth  being 
entirely  devoid  of  teeth,  and  the  outer  lip  quite  thin  and 
sharp.  Again,  whereas  the  upper  surface  of  the  adult 
shell  has  a  broad  dark  brown  margin,  and  the  central 
area  spotted  with  light  brown  on  a  ground  of  dark 
brown,  the  young  exhibits  dark  and  light  transverse  bands, 
with  a  certain  amount  of  mottling. 

Young  cowries,  then,  are  much  more  like  ordinary  shells 
than  are  the  adults,  and  clearly  indicate  that  the  latter 
belong  to  a  highly  modified  or  specialised  type.  The 
alteration  is  produced  by  the  expansion  of  the  mantle- 
lobes  of  the  adult,  which  deposit  a  shining  enamel  over 
the  entire  shell,  eventually  concealing  more  or  less  com- 
pletely the  spire,  and  thus  totally  modifying  the  original 
form.  A  young  cowry  is,  indeed,  much  more  like  an  olive 
or  a  melon-shell ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  of  the 
two  latter  are  the  nearest  relatives  of  the  Cypraeidae,  among 
which  are  the  Strombidae,  or  wing-shells.  And  in  this 
connection  the  near  resemblance  of  the  young  of  Scott's 
cowry  to  a  wing-shell  is  decidedly  worthy  of  note,  as 
suggestive  of  a  direct  affinity  between  the  wing-shells  and 
the  cowries. 

23 


354  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

Turning  now  to  the  interesting  problem  of  coloration, 
the  first  feature  that  must  strike  the  observer  is  that  the 
pattern  developed  on  the  shells  of  most  cowries  is  not 
seen  by  the  animals  themselves,  for  the  reason  that  by 
the  time  the  creature  is  fully  protruded  from  its  shell, 
the  upper  surface  of  the  latter  is  more  or  less  completely 
concealed  by  the  fleshy  lobes  of  the  mantle.  Accordingly, 
it  would  seem  to  be  apparent  that  the  colouring  of  these 
molluscs  is  developed  for  the  purpose  of  protection,  and 
not  for  the  admiration  of  the  different  individuals  or 
sexes  of  the  same  species.  It  might,  indeed,  be  urged 
that  as  the  lobes  of  the  mantle  are  coloured  similarly  to 
the  shell,  or  even  more  intensely,  the  colours  are  visible 
to  the  animals,  and  are  therefore  designed  for  mutual 
admiration.  But  had  this  been  the  object,  it  would  surely 
have  sufficed  to  restrict  the  coloration  to  the  outer  surface 
of  the  mantle-lobes,  and  not  to  have  extended  it  on  to 
their  inner  surfaces,  from  which  it  is  deposited  on  the 
shell.  As  regards  the  utility  of  the  cowry  type  of  colora- 
tion for  protective  purposes,  I  have  never  had  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  living  molluscs  in  their  native 
haunts,  nor  have  I  come  across  any  description  from  those 
who  have.  Cowries,  which  are  mostly  tropical  or  sub- 
tropical molluscs,  are,  however,  described  as  living  in 
shallow  water  not  far  from  the  shore,  and  feeding  on 
zoophytes ;  and  so  far  as  one  can  judge,  their  colours 
ought  to  harmonise  well  with  the  hues  of  the  denizens  of 
a  coral-bank,  or  a  mass  of  sea-anemones,  many  of  which 
are  more  or  less  similarly  spotted.  If  this  explanation 
prove  to  be  the  true  one,  we  can  readily  see  why  both  the 
shells  and  the  hard  parts  of  cowries  partake  of  the  same 
striking  types  of  coloration. 

Turning  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  various  types  of 


THE  COLOURS   OF  COWRIES  355 

coloration  met  with  among  cowries,  it  has  been  shown  in 
an  earlier  article  that  among  mammals  spots  and  stripes  are 
frequently  met  with  in  the  young  which  disappear  in  the 
adult.  Many  species  of  deer  and  swine,  for  instance,  which 
are  spotted  or  striped  with  white  in  youth  become  more  or 
less  completely  uniform  in  mature  age;  while  the  lion  and 
the  puma  frequently  exhibit  traces  of  dark  spotting  in  the 
cub  stage.  In  these  animals,  therefore,  it  is  evident  that 
a  spotted  or  striped  coat  is  the  original  type,  and  a  uniform 
tint  the  more  advanced  form.  In  cowries,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  seems  that  transverse  dark  banding  was  the  original 
type  of  coloration,  and  that  from  such  banded  type  two 
later  modifications  have  taken  place.  In  the  one  of  these, 
spotting  of  various  kinds  has  resulted,  while  in  the  other 
a  more  or  less  uniform  colour  has  been  the  final  result. 
The  primitive  banded  type  serves  to  connect  the  cowries 
with  less  specialised  shells,  a  young  Surinam-toad  cowry 
being  strikingly  like  a  melon-shell,  both  in  form  and 
colouring,  while  the  faint  banding  observable  in  young 
specimens  of  Scott's  cowry  recalls  the  colours  of  many  of 
the  wing-shells,  to  which,  as  already  mentioned,  the  former 
approximates  in  form. 

The  proof  that  banding  was  the  original  type  of  cowry 
coloration  is  easy,  seeing  that  it  prevails  in  the  young  of 
the  great  majority  of  species.  In  its  young  condition,  for 
instance,  the  Surinam-toad  cowry  is  striped,  while  in  the 
adult,  as  already  said,  it  has  chestnut  spots  on  a  dark 
ground  in  the  central  area  of  the  upper  surface.  Take, 
again,  the  adult  and  immature  conditions  of  the  common 
lynx  cowry,  the  former  of  which  is  variously  spotted,  while 
the  latter  still  retains  distinct  transverse  dark  and  light 
bands.  Still  more  striking  is  the  difference  between  the 
immature  and  adult  conditions  of  the  lesser  false  Argus 


356  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

cowry ;  the  latter  exhibiting  small  white  spots  on  a  dark 
ground,  while  the  former  is  banded  with  dark  and  light, 
without  the  slightest  trace  of  spotting.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned that  this  species  of  cowry  is  of  a  long  narrow 
shape,  and  it  would  seem,  for  two  reasons,  probable  that 
that  is  the  primitive  form  of  cowries,  the  short  and  broad 
shape  being  a  later  modification.  One  of  the  reasons  in 
favour  of  this  view  is  that  almost  all  cowries  which  retain 
the  primitive  banding  in  the  adult  condition  are  of  the  long 
form.  Among  such  may  be  mentioned  the  little  wasp 
cowry,  the  mole  cowry  (C.  talpa),  remarkable  for  its  tawny 
back  and  dark  brown  base,  and  one  variety  of  the  carnelian 
cowry  (C.  carneola),  as  well  as  the  orange-tipped  cowry 
{C.  Isabella).  Again,  in  the  true  Argus  cowry,  which 
develops  peculiar  ringed  spots  in  the  adult  condition,  the 
primitive  bands  are  still  more  or  less  distinctly  traceable 
at  all  ages. 

To  exemplify  the  second  reason  for  the  same  view,  we 
may  take  the  serpent's-head  cowry.  Here  we  see  the 
short  round  type  in  its  full  development,  the  coloration 
being  chocolate-brown  above  and  below,  with  the  central 
area  of  the  back  finely  spotted  with  white.  If,  however, 
we  take  a  young  individual  of  this  species,  it  will  be  noticed 
that  the  shape  of  the  shell  is  comparatively  long  and 
narrow,  while  the  colouring  is  in  the  form  of  bands. 
Many  other  instances  might  be  cited,  but  the  foregoing  are 
sufficient  for  my  present  purpose. 

I  may  accordingly  pass  on  to  notice  briefly  some  of  the 
more  striking  types  of  coloration  presented  by  adult  cowries. 
Banded  cowries  have  been  already  mentioned,  but  it  may 
be  added  that,  from  the  intensity  of  the  colours,  the  wasp 
cowry  is  not  improbably  the  culmination  of  this  type. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  flesh-coloured  carnelian  cowry, 


THE  COLOURS   OF  COWRIES  357 

of  which  there  is  both  a  long  and  a  short  form,  the  bands 
tend  to  become  very  indistinct ;  and  it  may  be  suggested 
that  the  short  form  is  not  far  removed  from  the  ancestral 
type  of  the  beautiful  orange  cowry,  which  is  one  of  the  few 
uniformly  coloured  species ;  such  uniformly  coloured  forms 
indicating,  as  already  said,  one  line  of  specialisation. 

Among  the  spotted  cowries  several  types  are  noticeable. 
Firstly,  we  have  species  in  which  the  back  of  the  shell  i& 
simply  spotted  with  black  or  brown,  among  them  being  the 
tiger  cowry  (C.  tigris),  the  panther  cowry  (C.  pantherind)} 
and  the  much  smaller  lynx  cowry  (C.  lynx).  As  all  these 
have  a  comparatively  short  and  wide  shell,  they  indicate 
an  advanced  type.  Next  we  have  white-spotted  cowries, 
such  as  the  false  Argus  (C.  cervus\  the  lesser  false  Argus, 
and  the  fallow-deer  cowry ;  and  as  the  two  former  are 
long-shaped,  while  the  latter  is  comparatively  short,  they 
seem  to  indicate  a  medium  stage  of  evolution. 

From  the  black-  and  brown-spotted  forms  seem  to  have 
originated  the  group  represented  by  the  map  and  nutmeg 
cowries  (C.  mappa  and  arabicd),  in  which  the  spots  are 
retained  along  the  margins  of  the  back  of  the  shell,  the 
central  area  of  which  is  more  or  less  finely  reticulated  or 
vermiculated,  the  map  cowry  taking  its  name  from  the  width 
and  sinuosity  of  the  line  between  the  mantle-lobes.  In  the 
typical  nutmeg  cowry  the  reticulations  are  very  nutmeg-like, 
but  in  other  specimens  more  or  less  distinct  pale  spots  are 
dotted  all  over  the  central  area,  till  in  the  variety  htstrio 
the  spots  are  the  dominant  feature,  being  only  separated  by 
these  lines  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  network,  or  honeycomb 
arrangement.  Perhaps  the  cullender  cowry  may  be  regarded 
as  an  offshoot  of  this  type. 

But  another  modification  may  apparently  also  be  traced  to 
the  arabica-mappa  stock,  the  members  of  which  are  inter- 


358  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

mediate  between  the  long  and  the  short  types.  As  already 
said,  these  cowries  have  the  central  area  of  the  back  reticu- 
lated or  white-spotted,  and  lighter  than  the  black-spotted 
margin.  And  from  such  a  type  the  transition  is  easy  to 
the  modification  presented  by  the  serpent's-head  cowry 
and  the  Surinam-toad  cowry,  in  which  the  central  area  is 
white  or  chestnut-spotted,  while  the  margin  and  much  of  the 
under-surface  is  dark  brown.  The  great  width  and  short- 
ness of  these  cowries  afford  further  evidence  of  their  high 
degree  of  modification.  Obviously  the  chestnut-bordered 
cowry  is  another  member  of  this  group  in  which  chestnut 
spots  have  been  superadded  to  the  normal  white-spotted 
central  area.  Apparently  a  special  development  of  this  type 
may  be  recognised  in  the  white  ring-cowry  (C.  annulus), 
the  yellow  ring  from  which  it  takes  its  name  marking  the 
line  of  division  between  the  original  spotted  central  area 
and  the  dark  area.  Finally,  from  the  ring-cowry  may  easily 
be  derived  the  money  cowry,  in  which  the  ring  has  all  but 
disappeared,  while  the  marginal  area  has  developed  a  series 
of  rugosities,  apparently  connected  with  the  filaments  on 
the  margins  of  the  mantle-lobes,  which  scarcely  intrude  on 
the  central  area.  Whether  these  two  white  species  have  a 
habitat  different  from  that  of  their  brethren  is  a  subject  well 
worth  the  investigation  of  those  who  have  the  opportunity. 

Omitting  mention  of  certain  other  sub-types,  this  part  of  the 
subject  may  be  concluded  by  brief  reference  to  the  true  Argus 
cowry  (C.  argus),  which,  from  its  elongated  form  and  the 
retention  of  barring,  is  evidently  an  ancient  type  specially 
distinguished  by  the  ring-like  form  of  the  spots. 

All  the  above-mentioned  species  (together  with  a  host 
of  others)  are  members  of  the  typical  genus  Cypraea, 
distinguished  by  the  smooth  and  shining  enamel,  and  the 
circumstance  that  the  teeth  of  the  mouth  do  not  extend  across 


THE   COLOURS   OF  COWRIES  359 

the  whole  of  the  lower  surface.  There  are,  however,  other 
cowries  differing  from  these  by  the  development  of  rugosities 
on  the  back,  and  the  extension  of  the  teeth  of  the  mouth 
right  across  the  lower  surface.  Both  these  features  may 
safely  be  regarded  as  indications  of  greater  specialisation 
than  exists  among  any  of  the  typical  cowries.  One  type 
is  represented  by  the  pustuled  cowry,  in  which  the  orna- 
mentation on  the  upper  surface  takes  the  form  of  small 
spherical  pustules,  frequently  of  a  bright  red  colour,  when 
they  recall  a  fragment  of  wood  overgrown  with  funguses. 
In  the  second,  a  still  more  advanced  modification,  the 
ornamentation  of  the  back  assumes  the  form  of  transverse 
ridges,  which  in  some  species  are  comparatively  wide  apart, 
and  separated  by  a  considerable  interval  in  the  middle 
line,  whereas  in  others,  like  the  little  European  cowry 
Trivia  europaed),  they  are  so  closely  approximated,  and  so 
nearly  meet  in  the  middle  line,  as  to  give  the  idea  of  a 
small  and  neatly  parted  head  of  hair. 

Even  these  by  no  means  exhaust  the  modifications  which 
the  cowry  type  is  capable  of  assuming,  as  witness  the  pure 
white  "  poached  egg "  and  the  "  weaver's  shuttle,"  both 
members  of  the  genus  Ovula,  the  latter  remarkable  for  the 
elongation  of  the  two  extremities  of  the  mouth  into  tube- 
like  processes.  Both  these,  as  well  as  certain  other  allied 
types,  depart  from  the  ordinary  cowry  type  by  their  white 
or  pinkish  colour,  and  are  therefore  evidently  specialised 
modifications.  In  the  case  of  the  weaver's  shuttle  the  colour 
is  probably  produced  to  harmonise  with  the  sea-fans,  upon 
which  these  molluscs  are  'parasitic ;  but  further  information 
in  regard  to  the  reason  for  the  absence  of  colour  is  requisite 
in  the  case  of  the  other  kinds. 

One  result  of  this  brief  dissertation  on  cowries  is  to  show 
how  short-sighted  was  the  idea  prevalent  some  years  ago  that 


360  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

shells  were  of  no  '.importance  in  the  study  of  molluscs,  and 
that  attention  must  be  restricted  to  the  soft  parts  (the  so- 
called  "  animal  ")  alone.  A  wider  grasp  of  the  subject 
shows  that  nothing  in  Nature  is  unworthy  of  our  best 
attention,  and  is  sure  to  yield  results  of  interest  if  only 
we  approach  the  subject  with  unbiassed  and  unprejudiced 
minds. 


BREEDING  HABITS  OF  FROGS  AND  TOADS 

FEW  phenomena  in  animated  nature  are  more  marvellous 
than  the  development  of  ordinary  frogs  and  toads,  in  the 
course  of  which  a  creature  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
vegetable-feeding  fish  becomes  transformed  into  a  carni- 
vorous reptile.  In  all  the  ordinary  frogs  and  toads  of 
Europe,  Asia,  and  North  America,  the  process  of  develop- 
ment may,  very  briefly,  be  described  as  follows  :  The  eggs, 
which  are  enveloped  in  a  glutinous  matrix,  are  deposited 
in  large  masses  in  water,  and  in  due  course  develop  into 
the  familiar  tadpoles.  At  first  the  new-born  tadpole  affixes 
itself  to  some  convenient  object  by  means  of  a  sucker,  but 
in  the  course  of  a  few  days  takes  to  a  free-swimming  mode 
of  existence.  In  its  earliest  days  it  breathes  by  means 
of  external  gills,  but  these  are  soon  replaced  by  internal 
gills,  covered  by  a  gill-flap,  and  these  again  by  lungs. 
While  these  changes  are  going  on,  the  hind-limbs,  and 
afterwards  the  fore-legs,  bud  forth  from  the  body,  the  long 
tail  is  absorbed,  the  larval  mouth  is  replaced  by  the  per- 
manent one,  and  the  coiled  intestine  is  shortened  and 
straightened.  And  thus  in  due  course  the  aquatic,  gill- 
breathing,  limbless,  long-tailed,  herbivorous  tadpole  blossoms 
forth  as  the  terrestrial,  lung-breathing,  four-limbed,  tailless, 
and  carnivorous  frog  or  toad,  as  the  case  may  be. 

If  this  state  of  things  were  common  to  all  the  members 
of  the  group,  it  would  be,  as  it  is,  sufficiently  marvellous 

361 


362  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

to  excite  our  unbounded  wonder  and  admiration.  But  in 
many  frogs  and  toads  the  course  of  development  is  modified 
in  various  ways  from  this  typical  plan  in  accordance  with 
the  special  needs  of  their  existence,  thus  giving  rise  to 
many  wholly  unexpected  phenomena  and  peculiarities. 

The  first  peculiarity  is  displayed  by  the  Japanese  frog 
(Rhacophorus  schlegeli),  in  which  the  eggs  are  laid  in  the 
muddy  banks  of  paddy-fields  or  ponds  above  the  water- 
level.  The  egg-mass  is  kneaded  into  a  froth  by  the  legs 
of  the  female  parent,  and  its  exterior  hardens  into  a  kind 
of  crust.  Within  this  "  pudding"  the  tadpoles  are  hatched  ; 
and  eventually  the  mass  breaks  up  into  a  fluid,  and  bursts 
its  crust  to  flow  into  the  water,  carrying  with  it  the  tad- 
poles. If  the  eggs  be  removed  from  the  "  pudding "  and 
transferred  to  water,  they  immediately  perish. 

In  a  West  African  frog  (Chiromantis  guineensis),  as  well 
as  in  a  Brazilian  species  (Phyllomedusa  iheringi),  the  eggs, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  deposited  in  nests  formed  of  leaves 
glued  together  by  the  parent.  And  in  both  instances  the 
tadpoles  swim  about  within  a  frothy  substance.  In  the 
case  of  the  latter  species  the  nest  has  an  opening  below 
through  which  the  tadpoles  are  eventually  discharged  into 
the  water  over  which  it  is  built ;  but  those  of  the  first 
species  are  believed  to  be  washed  off  the  leaves  by  rain, 
falling  into  water  below. 

The  female  of  the  little  Paraguay  tree-frog  (Phyllomedusa 
hypochondrialis)  carries  her  partner  on  her  back  until  a 
suitable  leaf  in  the  neighbourhood  of  water  is  found,  when 
the  two  parents  bend  back  its  tip  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  form  a  funnel,  in  which  the  female  deposits  her  spawn. 
Two  nests  of  this  description,  each  containing  about  one 
hundred  eggs,  may  be  formed  by  each  pair  of  frogs. 
After  an  interval  of  six  days  the  tadpoles  hatch  out  and 


BREEDING   HABITS   OF   FROGS   AND   TOADS     363 

escape  into  water ;  if  they  fail  to  fall  directly  into  the 
latter,  they  are  capable  of  wriggling  during  a  shower  a 
distance  of  several  inches  along  the  ground,  aiding  them- 
selves by  a  jumping  motion.  In  the  case  of  the  tree-frog 
of  Rio  de  Janeiro  (Hyla  nebulosd)  the  spawn  is  deposited 
in  the  sheath  of  withered  banana  leaves  far  away  from 
water ;  the  tadpoles  undergoing  the  whole  of  their  develop- 
ment in  the  frothy  egg-mass,  and  actually  dying  if  they 
are  put  into  water.  Here,  then,  we  have  an  instance  in 
which  the  normal  conditions  of  tadpole  development  are 
totally  changed. 

But  this  is  by  no  means  a  solitary  example.  The  tad- 
poles of  another  Brazilian  frog  (Cystignathus  fragilis),  and 
probably  also  those  of  a  Ceylon  species  (Rhacophorus  egues), 
are  stated  to  undergo  a  portion  of  their  development  on 
land.  The  eggs  have  been  found  in  frothy  masses  on 
land,  those  of  the  former  species  usually  in  grass  near 
pools,  and  its  tadpoles  have  been  observed  under  decaying 
tree-trunks.  Again,  a  third  Brazilian  frog  (Cystignathus 
mystaceus)  never  goes  near  water,  even  to  spawn ;  the 
eggs  being  deposited  in  comparatively  small  numbers  in 
a  hole  under  stones  or  decaying  wood  near  the  edge  of 
a  pool,  but  above  the  water-level.  The  frothy  substance 
in  which  they  are  hatched  probably  serves  the  tadpoles  as 
food,  since  it  diminishes  in  quantity  as  they  develop.  In 
a  dry  season  the  tadpoles  often  remain  in  the  nest  until 
they  are  of  large  size,  but  more  generally  they  are  swept 
into  the  pool  when  its  level  rises  after  rain  above  the 
normal.  Masses  of  a  green  frothy  spawn  of  about  the 
size  of  a  rook's  egg  found  adhering  to  the  walls  of  cisterns, 
to  faces  of  rock  overhanging  water,  and  to  moist  tree- 
trunks  in  Ceylon,  are  believed  to  be  deposited  by  the  frog 
known  as  Polypedates  maculatus.  In  Brazil  the  tadpoles  of 


364  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

a  tree-frog  (Hyla  abbreviatd)  have  been  observed  adhering 
to  rocks  by  means  of  the  flat  surface  of  the  abdomen, 
which  acts  as  a  sucker.  Nothing  is,  however,  known  with 
regard  to  the  eggs. 

In  all  the  foregoing  instances  the  peculiarities  of  develop- 
ment are  confined  to  the  situations  in  which  the  spawn 
is  deposited  and  the  tadpoles  are  developed.  There  is, 
however,  another  and  far  more  remarkable  class  of  cases 
in  which  the  bodies  of  either  the  male  or  female  parent 
are  specially  modified  to  act  as  receptacles  for  the  eggs 
and  tadpoles.  The  best  instance  of  this  class  is  that  of 
the  well-known  Surinam  toad  (Pipa  americana}*  in  which 
the  eggs  are  evenly  distributed,  as  they  are  laid,  over  the 
back  of  the  female  by  the  male.  Around  these  the  skin 
of  the  back  speedily  thickens  until  each  egg  is  enclosed  in 
a  separate  cell,  furnished  with  a  lid.  The  eggs  hatch  in 
about  eighty-two  days,  and  the  young  are  stated  to  find 
safety  and  nourishment  on  the  parental  back  until  their 
transformation  is  completed.  The  limbs  make  their  appear- 
ance at  an  unusually  early  age,  even  before  the  external 
gills  are  shed. 

Equally  remarkable  are  the  "  nursery "  arrangements  of 
the  pouched  frogs  (Nototrema)  of  South  America.  In  these 
frogs  the  back  of  the  female  is  furnished  with  a  long  tube- 
like  pouch,  having  its  opening  at  the  posterior  end.  In 
this  pouch  the  eggs,  which  are  about  fifteen  in  number, 
are  deposited  and  hatched ;  and  the  tadpoles  also  undergo 
the  whole  of  their  metamorphosis  in  the  same  chamber. 
In  some  cases,  at  least,  the  pouch  splits  longitudinally 

*  The  breeding  habits  of  this  and  some  of  the  following  forms  have 
been  already  referred  to  in  a  previous  article  ;  but,  in  order  to  render 
the  present  one  complete  in  itself,  it  has  not  been  considered  advisable 
to  eliminate  such  repetition  as  may  exist. 


BREEDING  HABITS  OF  FROGS   AND  TOADS    365 

when  the  young  frogs  are  ready  to  make  their  appearance 
in  the  world. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  most  peculiar  kind  of  "  nursery " 
is  the  one  found  in  Darwin's  frog  (Rhinoderma  darwini). 
In  this  extraordinary  creature  the  males  are  provided  in 
the  breeding  season  with  an  enormous  pouch  on  the  throat, 
in  which  the  large  eggs  (generally  about  ten  in  number) 
are  hatched  and  the  tadpoles  protected  until  they  become 
true  frogs.  The  tadpoles  never  have  external  gills,  and 
probably  not  internal  ones  either,  so  that  they  are  much 
more  advanced  at  birth  than  is  the  case  with  their  brethren 
of  ordinary  species. 

Another  instance  of  abbreviated  or  accelerated  develop- 
ment is  furnished  by  Goeldi's  tree-frog  (Hyla  goeldii)  of 
Brazil.  Here  the  score  or  so  of  eggs  are  carried  on  the 
back  of  the  female,  in  which  the  skin  of  the  margins  is 
raised  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  saucer.  According  to  one 
authority,  the  newly  hatched  young  are  in  the  form  of 
perfect  frogs,  which  prefer  not  to  stay  in  water.  Another 
method  of  carrying  the  eggs  is  displayed  by  a  Cingalese 
frog  (Rhacophorus  reticulatus),  in  which  they  adhere  to  the 
abdomen  of  the  female. 

Some  frogs,  again,  such  as  Spea  hammondi  of  North 
America,  are  in  the  habit  of  depositing  their  spawn  in 
rain-pools  liable  to  rapid  desiccation.  And  in  these  cases 
the  tadpoles  acquire  limbs  at  an  unusually  early  age,  in 
order  to  be  enabled  to  seek  a  fresh  pool  when  their  own 
shows  signs  of  giving  out.  The  tadpoles  of  an  Idaho 
frog  (Spea  bombifrons)  show  a  singular  dislike  to  water, 
even  while  in  the  swimming  stage  of  existence ;  they 
breathe  air,  and  live  on  the  bare  ground  in  smooth  spaces 
which  they  clear  for  themselves.  Three  other  American 
species  (two  of  which  belong  to  the  genus  Dendrobates, 


366  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

and  the  third  to  Phyllobates),  to  which  water  is  essential 
while  in  the  tadpole  stage,  adopt  the  plan  of  carrying  their 
young  attached  to  their  backs  (either  by  means  of  suckers 
or  of  a  viscid  secretion),  and  are  thus  enabled  to  transport 
them  to  another  pool  when  occasion  arises.  In  the  case 
of  the  genus  last  mentioned,  it  is  the  father  frog  on  whom 
the  burden  of  carting  about  his  family  falls,  but  in  the 
other  instance  it  is  not  known  to  which  sex  this  duty  is 
entrusted.  A  frog  (Arthrolepis  seychellensis)  from  the 
Seychelles  is  likewise  in  the  habit  of  carrying  its  young 
on  its  back,  but  in  this  case  the  purpose  of  the  arrange- 
ment is  not  to  transport  them  from  one  pool  to  another, 
but  merely  to  protect  them  during  development,  which 
takes  place  on  land,  the  tadpoles  breathing  by  means  of 
lungs. 

The  Coqui  frog  (Hylodes  martinicensis)  of  the  West 
Indies  affords,  however,  the  best  instance  of  the  manner 
in  which  these  reptiles  can  develop  without  resorting  to 
the  water  at  all.  In  this  species  the  eggs  are  laid  on 
the  leaves  of  plants  in  damp  situations,  the  female  parent 
remaining  near  by  on  guard  until  they  hatch.  This 
takes  place  in  about  a  fortnight  after  deposition,  but  instead 
of  tadpoles,  perfect  little  frogs  make  their  appearance  in 
the  world,  all  the  transformations  taking  place  within  the 
egg.  A  Peruvian  species  of  the  same  genus  (Hylodes 
lineatus)  exhibits  a  precisely  similar  mode  of  development; 
and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  curious  Solomon  Island 
frog  (Rana  opisthodon). 

In  conclusion,  mention  must  be  made  of  the  tadpole  of 
a  South  African  frog  (Dactylethra  capensis),  not  on  account 
of  any  peculiarity  in  its  mode  of  development,  nor  on 
account  of  its  form  (although  this  is  strange  enough), 
but  from  the  curious  circumstance  that  it  alone,  among 


BREEDING   HABITS   OF   FROGS   AND   TOADS    367 

all  the  numerous  representatives  of  its  tribe,  feeds  on 
animal  instead  of  vegetable  substances.  The  full-grown 
frog,  too,  has  peculiar  ways  of  its  own,  never  when  at  rest 
assuming  the  sitting  posture  characteristic  of  all  other 
frogs  and  toads,  and  never  showing  the  humped  back  of 
other  species.  Evidently  a  thorough  radical  and  reformer 
among  frogs. 


SCORPIONS   AND  THEIR  ANTIQUITY 

To  the  circumstance  that  scorpions  have  their  bodies  pro- 
tected by  a  coat  of  the  hard  substance  technically  known 
as  chitin,  the  palaeontologist  is  indebted  for  a  knowledge 
of  their  past  history  and  extreme  antiquity  ;  and  it  is  owing 
to  the  preservation  of  their  remains  in  the  Palaeozoic  strata 
of  both  the  Old  and  New  Worlds  that  we  are  enabled  to 
explain  their  present  geographical  distribution.  There  are 
many  other  groups  of  invertebrates  that  we  can  have  little 
doubt  are  fully  as  ancient  as  scorpions,  but  which  lack  a 
hard  external  investment,  and  whose  past  history  is  accord- 
ingly a  blank.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of 
this  is  afforded  by  the  peculiar  creatures  termed  Peripatus, 
representatives  of  which  are  found  in  countries  as  remote 
from  one  another  as  South  Africa,  New  Zealand,  Australia, 
South  and  Central  America,  and  the  West  Indies.  These 
animals  have  much  the  appearance  of  caterpillars,  being 
furnished  with  a  pair  of  simple  antennae,  and  having  a 
large  number  of  short,  conical,  caterpillar-like  feet  extend- 
ing along  the  whole  length  of  the  under-surface  of  the 
body,  and  each  terminating  in  a  pair  of  hooked  claws. 
They  breathe  by  tracheal  tubes,  after  the  manner  of  insects, 
but  instead  of  these  tubes  opening  by  a  regular  series  of 
apertures  along  each  side  of  the  body,  their  apertures  are 
scattered  in  an  irregular  manner  over  its  whole  surface. 
And  it  has  been  considered  probable  that  these  animals 

368 


SCORPIONS  AND  THEIR  ANTIQUITY         369 

are  closely  related  to  the  ancestral  stock  of  insects,  spiders 
and  their  allies,  and  myriapods.  This  being  so,  it  is  evident 
that  Peripatus  must  be  an  extremely  ancient  type,  and  there 
is  a  great  probability  that  if  their  remains  were  suitable  for 
preservation  we  should  find  evidence  of  their  existence  in 
some  of  the  oldest  rocks  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  It 
has,  indeed,  been  assumed  from  their  present  geographical 
distribution  that  these,  as  well  as  many  other  types  of 
animals,  have  always  been  southern  forms,  and  that  their 
presence  in  the  great  southern  continents  and  islands 
indicates  a  former  union  of  all  the  lands  of  the  southern 
hemisphere.  That  there  was  a  south  equatorial  belt  of 
land  in  Palaeozoic  times  seems  to  be  pretty  evident  from 
certain  peculiarities  connected  with  the  Carboniferous  floras 
of  the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres,  and  it  is,  there- 
fore, possible  that  in  the  case  of  Peripatus  such  an  explana- 
tion may  be  the  true  one.  Since,  however,  palaeontology 
teaches  us  that  many  ancient  types  have  migrated  from 
their  original  northern  home  to  find  a  refuge  in  the  remote 
parts  of  the  southern  continents  and  islands,  it  seems  more 
probable  that  such  has  also  been  the  case  with  Peripatus. 
And  if  we  can  show  that  this  has  been  the  case  with  the 
scorpions,  which  now  attain  their  maximum  development 
in  the  more  southern  portions  of  the  globe,  the  argument 
will  be  strengthened  in  the  case  of  Peripatus. 

Belonging  to  the  great  group  of  Arachnida,  which  includes 
the  spiders,  scorpions  are  especially  distinguished  by  their 
compressed  bodies,  and  by  the  sharp  separation  of  the 
cephalo-thorax  from  the  abdomen,  the  latter  consisting  of 
seven  segments,  and  being  followed  by  six  narrower  seg- 
ments, collectively  forming  the  post-abdomen,  the  last  of 
which  is  specially  modified  into  the  so-called  sting.  The 
cephalo-thorax  or  fore  part  of  the  body  is  covered  by  a 

24 


370  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

shield-like  carapace,  upon  the  upper  surface  of  which  are 
carried  a  variable  number  of  simple  eyes,  one  pair  of  which 
is  larger  than  the  others,  and  is  placed  dorsally,  while  the 
smaller  ones  are  marginal.  The  first  pair  of  appendages  are 
modified  into  short  nipping  claws,  while  the  jaw-appendages, 
technically  known  as  maxillary  palpi,  are  greatly  enlarged 
to  form  the  huge  pair  of  pincers  carried  on  each  side  of  the 
head ;  and  the  four  pairs  of  walking  legs  are  supported  by 
the  first  four  segments  of  the  thorax.  It  is  important  to 
add  that  by  means  of  lung-sacs  opening  by  four  pairs  of 
apertures  on  the  sides  of  the  abdomen,  scorpions  breathe 
air,  and  it  is  accordingly  only  in  rocks  of  fresh-water 
origin,  or  such  as  were  deposited  near  the  shore,  that  their 
remains  are  likely  to  be  preserved. 

According  to  the  most  recent  classification,  existing 
scorpions  are  divided  into  four  families,  of  which  the  first 
two  are  again  divided  into  several  sub-families.  An  im- 
portant feature  in  this  classification  are  the  so-called  "  pedal 
spurs,"  which  are  found  upon  the  articular  membrane  con- 
necting the  foot,  or  terminal  segment  of  the  legs,  with  the 
segment  that  precedes  it.  The  Scorpionidae,  or  typical 
scorpions,  have  only  one  such  spur,  whereas  two  are  present 
in  the  other  three  families.  It  will  be  unnecessary  to  further 
consider  the  classification  of  the  group  in  this  place;  but 
it  is  important  to  notice  that  one  of  the  sub-families  of 
the  Scorpionidae  is  confined  to  Africa  south  of  the  Sahara, 
and  the  Indian  and  Malayan  countries  ;  while  another  has 
representatives  not  only  in  those  regions,  but  also  in 
northern  South  America  and  Australia.  At  the  present 
day,  indeed,  scorpions  are  found  in  Europe  only  in  the 
more  southern  countries,  where  the  majority  of  the  species 
are  of  comparatively  small  size ;  and  it  is  in  the  tropical 
and  sub-tropical  regions  of  the  globe  that  the  group  attains 


SCORPIONS   AND   THEIR   ANTIQUITY          371 

its  maximum  development,  the  largest  forms  being,  I 
believe,  South  American  and  South  African. 

In  existing  kinds  of  scorpions  the  median  dorsal  eye- 
tubercles  are,  as  a  rule,  far  removed  from  the  front  margin 
of  the  cephalo-thorax,  and  thus  placed  behind  the  lateral 
eyes.  Apparently  the  only  fossil  scorpions  agreeing  with 
this  group  that  have  been  hitherto  discovered  occur  pre- 
served in  amber  of  late  Tertiary  age ;  scorpions  being  quite 
unknown  in  lower  Tertiary  or  Secondary  rocks.  Needless 
to  say  that  this  is  not  owing  to  their  non-existence  in  those 
epochs,  but  is  due  either  to  such  rocks  being  unsuited  to  the 
preservation  of  their  remains,  or  having  been  deposited  far 
out  to  sea. 

When,  however,  we  reach  the  Palaeozoic  coal-measures, 
which  are  mainly  of  fresh-water  origin,  and,  therefore,  just 
where  we  should  expect  to  find  such  creatures,  remains  of 
scorpions  have  been  met  with  both  in  Europe  and  North 
America,  some  of  the  species  attaining  very  considerable 
dimensions.  Both  in  these  Carboniferous  scorpions  and 
also  in  certain  still  older  ones  from  the  Silurian  rocks,  the 
eye-tubercles  are  placed  either  on  the  actual  front  margin 
of  the  cephalo-thorax,  or  only  a  short  distance  behind  it; 
and  they  are  thus  regarded  as  forming  a  group  apart  from 
the  modern  scorpions.  In  the  Carboniferous  genus  Clythoph- 
thalmuSj  the  median  eye-tubercles  are  immense,  and  occupy 
almost  the  entire  front  half  of  the  cephalo-thorax  ;  the  lateral 
eyes  forming  a  semicircle  behind  and  to  the  sides  of  the 
larger  ones.  The  maxillary  palpi  form  pincers  proportion- 
ately as  large  as  in  the  modern  forms,  while  the  legs  have 
similar  double  claws.  The  genus  Eoscorpius,  which  is 
likewise  common  to  the  Carboniferous  rocks  of  both  halves 
of  the  northern  hemispheres,  has  all  the  general  features 
of  the  preceding,  with  the  exception  that  the  arrangement 


372  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

of  the  eyes  is  different;  while  Proscorpms,  of  the  upper 
Silurian  rocks  of  North  America,  is  also  of  the  same  general 
type.  With  Palaeophonus  of  the  Silurian  of  Scotland  and 
Gotland,  we  reach,  however,  a  more  primitive  type,  in  which 
the  walking-legs  gradually  taper  to  thin  extremities,  termi- 
nating in  simple  claws  or  points,  although  the  palpi  still 
form  large  pincers. 

Such  is  the  palaeontological  history  of  scorpions  ;  and 
very  remarkable  history  it  is,  seeing  that  most  of  the 
Palaeozoic  types  are  almost  as  highly  specialised  as  their 
existing  descendants,  and  thus  show  that  we  should  have 
to  go  much  farther  back  before  we  reached  the  ancestral 
type.  With  the  exception  of  certain  cockroach-like  insects, 
which  occur  in  the  middle  Silurian,  the  scorpions  are  indeed 
the  oldest  land  animals,  and  are  therefore  entitled,  in  spite 
of  their  unpleasant  propensities,  to  our  utmost  respect. 

We  have  said  that  in  Palaeozoic  times  there  existed  a 
south  equatorial  land-girdle,  distinguished  from  the  land 
of  the  northern  hemisphere  (from  which  it  was  probably 
isolated)  by  the  peculiar  character  of  its  flora ;  and  as  the 
Palaeozoic  scorpions  inhabited  the  northern  land,  it  is 
scarcely  likely  that  they  were  also  found  in  the  southern 
zone.  During  the  Secondary  epoch  the  latter  zone  appears 
to  have  been  split  up,  and  the  continental  areas  consequently 
assumed  some  approach  to  their  present  configuration. 
The  descendants  of  the  ancient  Palaeozoic  scorpions  began 
soon  after,  in  all  probability,  to  migrate  southwards,  along 
the  different  lines  of  communication ;  and  we  thus  can 
readily  understand  why  some  of  the  existing  sub-families 
are  represented  in  such  widely  separated  areas  as  India, 
Africa,  South  America,  and  Australia,  without  resorting 
to  any  comparatively  recent  connection  between  these 
countries. 


SCORPIONS  AND   THEIR  ANTIQUITY         373 

If  such  an  explanation  holds  good  in  the  case  of  the 
scorpions,  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  equally 
valid  in  the  instance  of  Peripatus.  It  may  be  objected 
that  whereas  in  the  case  of  the  scorpions  we  have  only 
sub-families  which  occur  over  such  widely  sundered  areas, 
in  Peripatus  we  have  one  and  the  same  genus.*  The 
objection  would,  however,  be  equally  valid  if  we  assumed 
that  genus  to  have  attained  its  present  geographical  dis- 
tribution by  the  aid  of  a  southern  belt  of  land,  seeing 
that  there  is  no  evidence  that  such  belt  has  existed  since 
the  end  of  the  Palaeozoic  or  the  commencement  of  the 
Secondary  epoch.f 

Although  not  coming  strictly  within  the  scope  of  its  title, 
this  article  may  be  concluded  by  a  brief  reference  to  some 
of  the  habits  of  scorpions.  All  scorpions  are  nocturnal 
and  somewhat  sluggish  creatures ;  but  while  some  species 
in  which  the  tail  is  light  carry  it  stretched  nearly  straight 
out  behind,  those  in  which  it  is  heavier  habitually  curve 
it  over  the  back;  and  those  forms  in  which  the  appendage 
is  carried  in  the  latter  manner  are  further  distinguished  by 
raising  their  bodies  much  higher  on  the  legs  than  is  the 
case  with  the  others.  Some  kinds,  again,  when  walking, 
carry  their  large  pincers  stuck  out  in  front  of  the  head  to 
act  as  feelers.  All  scorpions  are  carnivorous,  while  many 
of  them,  in  spite  of  their  sluggish  appearance,  are  able  to 
capture  and  kill  such  alert  creatures  as  cockroaches.  Mr. 
Pocock,  who  has  kept  scorpions  in  captivity,  writes  that 
"  as  soon  as  a  cockroach  is  seized,  the  use  of  the  scorpion's 
tail  is  seen,  for  this  organ  is  brought  rapidly  over  the 
latter's  back,  and  the  point  of  the  sting  thrust  into  the 

*  By  some  writers  Peripatus  is  split  into  distinct  genera. 
t  There  are  objections  to  the  theory  of  an  Antarctic  continent  uniting 
South  America,  Africa,  and  Australia,  having  existed  in  Tertiary  times. 


374  MOSTLY   MAMMALS 

insect.  The  poison  instilled  into  the  wound  thus  made, 
although  not  causing  immediate  death,  has  a  paralysing 
effect  upon  the  muscles,  and  quickly  deprives  the  insect  of 
struggling  powers,  and  consequently  of  all  chance  of  escape. 
If  the  insect  is  a  small  one — one  in  fact  that  can  be  easily 
held  in  the  pincers  and  eaten  without  trouble  while  alive — 
a  scorpion  does  not  always  waste  poison  upon  it.  Thus  I 
have  seen  a  Parabuthus  (one  of  the  genera  of  scorpions) 
seize  a  bluebottle  fly,  transfer  it  straight  to  its  mandibles, 
and  pick  it  to  pieces  with  them  while  still  kicking.  .  .  . 
An  insect  is  literally  picked  to  pieces  by  the  small  chelate 
mandibles,  these  two  jaws  being  thrust  out  and  retracted 
alternately,  first  one  and  then  the  other  being  used ;  the 
soft  juices  and  tissues  thus  exposed  being  drawn  into  the 
minute  mouth  by  the  sucking  action  of  the  stomach." 

Old  fables  die  hard,  and  none  is  more  persistent  than 
the  legend  that  the  scorpion,  when  surrounded  by  a  ring 
of  fire,  puts  an  end  to  its  existence  by  turning  its  tail 
over  its  back  and  stinging  itself  to  death.  No  matter  that 
naturalists  have  proved  that  their  poison  is  innocuous  to 
their  own  kind,  and  that  scorpions  are  killed  by  a  very 
moderate  elevation  of  temperature,  the  old,  old  story  is  still 
as  firmly  believed  as  ever  by  the  general  public. 

In  an  article  published  in  the  ninth  edition  of  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  the  Rev.  O.  P.  Cambridge 
refused  to  believe  that  there  was  any  substratum  of  fact  in  the 
popular  legend,  but  Mr.  Pocock,  writing  in  Nature  for  1893, 
is  more  merciful.  He  thinks,  indeed,  that  a  scorpion  may 
occasionally  sting  itself,  either  by  a  random  blow  for  an 
unseen  enemy,  or  when  it  has  been  irritated  by  the  contact 
of  any  strong  stimulant,  such  as  acid  or  mustard,  or  even 
that  in  the  madness  of  pain  it  may  be  driven  to  turn 
its  weapon  on  itself;  but  that  in  any  case  there  is  an 


SCORPIONS   AND   THEIR  ANTIQUITY          375 

intention  of  causing  its  own  death  cannot  for  a  moment  be 
admitted. 

Although,  probably,  many  of  my  readers  are  acquainted 
with  it,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not  I  must  conclude 
with  a  well-known  Indian  story.  Where  scorpions  and 
centipedes  abound,  it  is  the  general  custom  of  servants 
in  India  to  turn  their  masters'  boots  upside  down  before 
helping  to  put  them  on.  In  the  instance  in  question,  where 
this  precaution  had  been  omitted,  a  cavalry  officer  had  just 
put  his  foot  into  a  regulation  boot,  when  he  felt  something 
sharp  touch  his  heel.  With  the  greatest  promptitude  he 
lifted  his  leg  and  stamped  violently  on  the  ground,  in  the 
hope  of  destroying  the  supposed  scorpion  before  it  had  time 
to  use  its  sting.  He  found  that  a  spur,  with  the  rowels 
uppermost,  had  been  inadvertently  dropped  into  the  boot  ! 


INDEX 


Aard-vark,  the,  141 

Aard-wolf,  the,  31,  139,  143 

Acrobates,  243 

Addax,  the,  132 

Aeluropus,  168 

Ai.  the.     See  Sloth,  Three-toed 

Alactaga,  132 

Alectoroenas  nitidtisima^  6 

Amblyopsis  spelaea.    See  Fish,  Blind 

Anna  calva,  350 

Anoa,  the,  112,  304-7 

Anomalurus,  142,  235,  238,  239,  240 

Anofhthalmus,  329 

Ant-eater,  the  banded,  32,  34 

,,         spiny,  109,  342 
Ant-eaters,  the,  70,  75,  97,  98,  99, 

102-6,  109 
Aphyonus,  328 
Arachnidd)  369 
Arctic  animals,  58-68 
Arctogale.    See  Civet 
Arius,  346 
Armadillo,  the,  70,  75,  88,  89,  91, 

93>  95.  96,  308,  310 
Arthrolepis  seychellensis,  366 
Ami,  the,  50,  51 
Aspredo,  346 

Ass,  the  domesticated,  40,  49,  53 
Asses,  wild,  18,  53,  54,  259 
Asteracanthus,  163 
Astrapotherium,  85 
Auk,  the  great,  3 
Aurochs,  52,  293-302 
Aye-aye,  179-87 

Babirusa,  the,  112 
Baboon,  the,  113,  139,  141,  143 
Badger,  the,  29,  30,  32,  37 
Bandicoot,  the,  32,  109 
Banting,  the,  19,  53 


Barasingha,  the,  25,  26 
Bathyergus,  143 
Bats,  237,  322,  342 
Bear,  the  grizzly,  69 

,,      Polar,  208,  214 
Beaver,  the,  244-51 
Beisa,  the,  131,  132 
Bichir,  the,  157 
Bison,  the,  46,  53,  69,  295,  296,  297, 

298 

Blackbuck,  19 
Bongo,  the,  13,  15,  31,  143 
Boocertus  euryceros.     See  Bongo 
Bos  banting.     See  Banting 

,,  front alis.     See  Gayal 

,,    primigenius.     See  Aurochs 

„    sylvestris,  297 

,,    taunts,  302 
Bower-birds,  the,  109 
Bow-fin,  the,  350 
Bradypus.     See  Sloth  Three-toed 
Brook-lamprey,  350 
Buffalo,  the  African,  20,  141 
„       Asiatic,  20,  53,  226 
Bullheads,  the,  349 
Bushbuck,  the,  11-16,  18,  140,  306 
Bush-pigs,  139 

Caiman,  the,  72 
Camel,  the,  50 
Camptolaemus  labradorius,  6 
Cants  azarae,  202 

dingo.     See  Dingo 

fami/iaris,  200 

,,          tenggerana,  206 

lagopus,  2ii 

latrans,  200,  202 

lupus,  200,  202 
Capivara,  the,  70 
Capuchin,  the,  148 


376 


INDEX 


377 


Carp,  the,  1 14 

Carpincho,  the.     See  Capivara 

Cat,  the  bay,  34,  ,194 

desert,  36,  193,  194,  195 

domesticated,  49,  188-96 

Egyptian,  34,  189,  190,  192,  194, 
195,  196 

jungle,  190,  191,  194,  195 

leopard,  193 

marbled,  36 

Mediterranean,    190,    191,    192, 

195 

Pallas's,  194,  196 
rusty-spotted,  193 
steppe,  191,  194,  195 

Cat-fish,  the,  114,  328,  346 

Cats,  the,  29,  31,  188-96 

Cave  animals,  322-30 

Cavy,  the  Patagonian,  42 

Cephalophus  doriae.     See  Zebra-ante- 
lope 

Ceratophrys^  72 

Cercocebus.    See  Mangabey 

Cercopithecus.     Set  Guenon 

Cervus  hortulorum.    See  Deer  Peking 
„       sica.     See  Deer  Japanese 
„         ,,      manchuricus.     See  Deer 
Manchurian 

Cestracion>  162,  163 

Cetaceans,  308-13 

Chaja,  the,  72 

Chiromys,  179,  180,  181 

Chillingham  cattle,  the,  300,  301,  302 

Chimpanzee,  the,  142,  154 

Chipmunks,  the,  30 

Chiromantis  guiniensis,  362 

Chiromeles  torquata,  342 

ChironecteS)  31 

Chiru,  the,  178 

Chital,  the,   12,  14,   22,  23,    24,  26, 
28,  31,  45 

Cholaepus.     See  Sloth  Two-toed 

Chologaster^  327 

Chrysochloris.     See  Golden  Mole 

Civets,  the,  27,  29,  30,  31,  36,  ill, 

"5 

Clam,  the,  227 
Clythophthalnius,  371 
Cochliodus,  163 
Cockatoos,  the,  109 
Coelodus,  164 
Coelogenys,  31 
Colobus.    See  Guereza 
Coney.     See  Hyrax 
Coitus,  349 
Coturnix  novae-zealandiae,  6 


Courser,  the,  130 

Cowries,  351-60 

Cowry,  the  Argus,  355,  356,  357,  358 

banded,  356 

carnelian,  356 

chestnut  bordered,  358 

cullender,  357 

European,  359 

fallow-deer,  357 

!ynx>  355»  357 
map,  357 
mole,  356 
money,  352,  358 
nutmeg,  357 
orange,  351 

„       tipped,  356 
panther,  357 
"  poached-egg,"  359 
prince,  351 
pustuled,  359 

ring.  351,  358 
Scott's,  352,  353,  355 
serpent  s  head,  358 
spotted,  351 
Surinam-toad,  351,  352,  353, 

355'  358 

tiger,  35L  352,  357 
wasp,  356 
„       "  weaver's  shuttle,"  359 
,,       white  ring,  358 
Coyote,  the,  200 
Coypu,  the,  70 
Crab,  the  cocoanut,  227 
Cray-fish,  328,  329,  347 
Crocodiles,  the,  156 
Crossarchus,  31 

Cuscus,  the,  109,  in,  116,  123 
Cyclopterus,  349 
Cyon,  199,  206 
Cypraea.    See  Cowries 

„        annulus.    See  Cowry  White 

Ring 

,,        arabica.    See  Cowry  Nutmeg 
,,       argots.     See  Cowry  Argus 
,,        carneola.      See  Cowry    Car- 
nelian 

,,       guttata.    See  Cowry  Spotted 
,,        Isabella.   See  Cowry  Orange- 
tipped 

,,        lynx.     See  Cowry  Lynx 
,,       mappa.     See  Cowry  Map 
,,       pantherina.         See    Cowry 

Panther 

,,       princeps.      See  Cowry  Prince 
,,       talpa.     See  Cowry  Mole 
,,        tigris.     See  Cowry  Tiger 


378 


INDEX 


Cyprinidae.     See  Carp 
Cystignathus  fragility  363 
„  mystaceus,  363 

Dactylethra  cafensis,  366 
Daedicurus.     See  Glyptodon,   Club- 
tailed. 

Dassies,  the,  140 
Dasyures,  the,  31,  35 
Daubentonia,  179,  180 
Deer,  Chinese  water,  45 

„      European  roe,  24,  45 

,,     fallow,  12,  20,  21,  23,  25,  26, 
28,  31,  273,  284 

„      Formosan,  22 

„     hog,  26,  45 

,,      Indian  spotted.     See  Chital 

„     Japanese,  13,  21,  44 

,,      Manchurian,  44 

,,      Pampas,  74 

„      Peking,   21,   25,    26,   44,   45, 
272,  273 

„      Pere  David's  mi-lou,  274,  275, 
276,  277,  278 

,,      Philippine  spotted,  23 

„     red,  13,  25,  26,  44,  273 

„      rusa,  113 

„      sambar,  12,  23,  24,  26 

,,      Siberian  roe,  46 

„     sika,  23 

,,     swamp.     See  Barasingha 

,,     white-tailed,  13,  24,  25,  26 
Delphinopsis  freycri,  310 
Dendrobates,  345,  365 
Dendrocolaptidae.     See  Wood-hewecs 
Desert-chat,  the,  130 
Desert-finches,  the,  130 
Desert-lark,  the,  130 
Dingo,  the,  197,  198,  204,  205 
Dinosaurs,  225 
Distichurus,  243 
Dog,  the  bush,  199 

,,     domesticated,  49,  197-206 

„     Eskimo,  197,  200 

„     hunting,  139,  143,  199 

,,     pariah,  201 
Dolichotis  palagonica.       See     Cavy 

Patagonian 
,,          salinicola,  42 
Dolphins,  the,  311,  312,  313 
Domesticated  animals,  39-57,  188-206 
Dormouse,  the,  142 
Dorcatherium,  142 
Doryichthys,  348 
Drepanis  pacifica,  6 
Dromaeus  ater,  4 


Duck,  the  pied,  6 
Dugong,  the,  87.  228 

Earthworms,  the,  122 
Echidna,  the,  109,  342 
Eland,  the,  n,  15,  31,  41,46,227, 

25* 
Elaphums    davidianus.      See    Deer 

Pere  David's 

Elephant,   the  African,  41,   42,    47, 
140,  144  ' 

„         Indian,  41,  49,  226 
Elephant-seal.     See  Sea-elephant 
Elephants,  20,  69,  71,  87,  226 
Elk,  the,  69,  297,  298 
Emeu,  the  black,  4 
Enhydriodon,  219 
Eoscorpius,  371 
Equus  caballusy  54 

»      q^agga.     See  Quagga 
Ermine,  the,  66,  207,  214 
Erythrospiza.     See  Desert-finch 
Etipetaurus  cinereus,  242 

Fallow  deer.     See  under  Deer 
Felis  bengalensis,  193 

,,    cat^^s.     See  Cats 

,,     caudata.     See  Steppe-cat 

,,    chaus.     See  Jungle-cat 

„    lybka,  1 88,  190,  195 

,,     manul>  194 

,,     mediterranea.     See   Cat,  Medi- 
terranean 

,,    ornata.    See  Cat,  Desert 

,,     rubiginosa,  193 

,,     temmincki,  194 
Fennecs,  the,  199 
Fish,  the  blind,  325,  326 
Fishes,  enamel-scaled,  157,  158 

„       soft -scaled,  158 
Fox,  the,  69,  199,  210,  284 

,,     arctic,  67,  209-15 

„     blue,    207-10,    212,    213,    215, 
216 

„     grey,  209 

,,     long-eared  Cape,  199 

,,     white,  207,  208,  209,  213,  216 
Fox-bat,  the,  142 
Fregilupits  vartus,  6 
Frogs,  344-6,  361-7 

,,      marsupial,  344,  364 

,,      pouched.     Vide  supra 

,,      tree,  344,  345 
Frog,  the  Coqui,  366 

„      Darwin's,  345,  346,  365 

,,      Goeldi's  tree,  365 


INDEX 


379 


Frog,  horned,  72 
,,      Japanese,  362 
,,      Paraguay  tree,  362 

Galagos,  the,  142,  144,  151,  314 

Galidlctis.     See  Mongoose 

Galla  ox,  the,  53 

Gastrosteus.    See  Sticklebacks 

Gaur,  the,  19,  304 

Gayal,  the,  53 

Gazelles,  the,  130,  237,  273,  274 

Gelada  baboon,  the,  143 

Gemsbok,  the,  131,  140 

Genet,  the,  30 

Genetta  tigrina,  30 

Gerbils,  the,  130 

Giraffe,  the  Somali,  15,  16 
,,       South  African,  8 

Giraffes,  27,  28,  30,  35,  69,  129,  140, 
141,  227,  263,  264 

Glossothere,  the,  102 

Glyptodon,  the  club-tailed,  92,  93,  94 
,,         pigmy,  91,  96 
„        ring-tailed,  91,  92 
,,         smooth-tailed,  95 
,,         tuberculated,  94,  95 

Glyptodons,  the,  75,  76,  77,  78,  79, 
80  (note),  88,  89,  90,  91,  92,  96, 
225 

Gnu,  the  white-tailed,  256 

Gnus,  the,  28,  31,  35,  140,  253 

Goat,  the,  40,  49,  51,  71,  282 

Golden  mole,  the,  143 

Gorilla,  the,  142,  227 

Gronias  nigrilabris,  328 

Guanaco,  the,  70,  71,  74,  76,  78 

Guenon,  the,  139 

Guereza,  the,  139,  167,  169,  170 
,,         Abyssinian,  168 
„         East  African,  167,  168 

Guinea-pig,  the,  42 

Hanuman  monkey,  the.     See  Langur 
Hare,  the  mountain,  61,  62,  63,  64, 

65,  66,  207 

,,      variable,  62,  64,  65 
Harnessed  antelope,  the,  31,  32,  34, 

140 

Hartebeest,  the,  252 
Hemigale,  31 
Hipparion,  the,  88 
Hippopotamus,  the,  20,  69,  71,  138, 
140,    141,    142,    226,    227,    261, 
262,  263,  264,  265,  267,  268,  269 
Hippopotamus,  the  Burmese,  266,  270 
„  Cyprian,  270 


Hippopotamus,  Indian,  267 

„  Lemerle's,  269,  270 

„  Narbada,  267 

„  pigmy,  261,  262,  265, 

267 

Siwalik,  266,  267 
Hippopotamus  amphibius,  261 
„  hipponensis,  269 

„  iravaticus.      See  Hip- 

popotamus Burmese 
„  lemerlei.     See    Hippo- 

potamus Lemerle's 
„  liberiensis.    See  Hippo- 

potamus Pigmy 
,,  mtnutus,  270 

„  namadicus,  267 

„  palaeindicus,  267 

„  sivalensis.    See  Hippo- 

potamus Siwalik 
Homalodontotherium,  84,  87 
Hoplophorus.  See  Glyptodon,  Smooth- 
tailed 

Horse,  the  domesticated,  40,  49 
Horses,  wild,  54,  55,  56,  57,  71 
Humming-birds,  71 
Humped  cattle,  52,  53 
Hunting-dog,  the,  139,  143,  199 
Hunting-leopard,  the,  27,  30,  49 
Hyaena,  the,  29 

„       spotted,  30,  140 
„        striped,  31,  139 
Hybrid  dogs,  200 

zebras,  42,  43 

Hydrochoerus.     See  Capivara 
Hyla,  344 

„      abbreviate.,  364 
„     goeldii.  See  Frog,  Goeldi's  Tree 
,,      nebulas  a,  363 
Hylodes  lineatus,  366 

„        martiniccnsis.       See      Frog 

Coqui. 

Hypotoenidia  pacifica^  5 
Hyrax,  the,  81,  82 

Ibex,  the,  139 
Ichthyosaurs,  225 
Ictonyx,  30,  170 
Idiurus,  142,  240 
Iguanas,  the,  72 

Jackal,  the,  199,  200,  202 

„       black-backed,  202 
Jaguar,  the,  27,  31 

,,        black,  211 
Jerboas,  the,  130,  132 
Jungle-cat,  the,  190 


INDEX 


Kangaroo,  the,  46,  47,  341 

„          tree,  109 
Kob,  Mrs.  Gray's,  19 
,,     white-eared,  19 
Kudu,  the,   u,   12,   13,  14,   15,  31, 

253.  306 

Lampetra  wilderi.  See  Brook-lamprey 
Land  slugs,  122 

Langurs,  the,  167,  172,  173,  174,  175 
Lemming,  the,  58,  59,  60,  207,  214 
Lemuroids,  the,  151,  184 
Lemurs,  the,  142,  151,  152,  342 

„        flying,  237 
Leopard,  the,  27,  31,  141 

,,         black,  211 

,,         clouded,  31,  36 

„        snow,  31 
Lepidotus,  163 

Lepus  timidus.     See  Hare,  Mountain 
Linsang,  the,  30,  153  (note). 
Lion,  the,  11,  31,  35,  131,  138,  141, 

2U,3S5 
Lipura,  329 
Lizards,  130,  152,  156 
Llama,  the,  70 
Loris,  the,  137,  151 
Lucifuga  dentata,  327,  328 
Lumpsuckers,  the,  349 
Lycaon.    See  Hunting-dog 
Lynx,  the,  30 

Macaque,  the  moor,  113 

Macrauchenia,  76,  79,  86,  88,  226 

Macrorhinus,  230,  231 

Macros  eel  ides.     See  Shrew,  Jumping 

Mammoth,  225,  226,  296 

Mamo,  the,  6 

Manatis,  the,  228 

Mangabey,  the,  142 

Marbled  cat,  the,  31 

Markhor,  52 

Marmoset,  the,  70,  148 

Marmot,  70 

Marsupials,  no,  112,  121,  122 

Marten,  the,  191,  218 

Mastodon,  the,  75,  76,  79,  225 

Meerkat,  the,  143 

Megalotherium,  the,  75,  76,  77,  97, 

100,  101,  103,  104,  105,  107 
Mi-lou.  See  Deer,  Pere  David's 
Moa,  the,  227 

Mongoose,  the  30,  31,  36,  139 
Monkeys,  New-world,  70,  148 

„         Old-world,  1 10,   113,   115, 
144,  148,  167 


Mosasaurs,  225 

Muflon,  the,  51 

Mule-deer,  the,  133 

Mules,  34,  40 

Mulita,  the,  95 

Muntjac,  the,  25,  26,  45 

Musk-ox,  the,  287-92 

Mustela,  191 

Myliobatidae,  159,  160 

Mylodon,  the,    75,   76,   77,   79,   97, 

101,  102,  103,  105 
Myocastor.  See  Coypu 
Myrmecobius,  32 

Necturus,  326 

Neophocaena  phocaenoides.     See  Por- 
poise, Japanese 
NerophiSy  348 
Nesodont  79,  82 
Nestor  norfolcensis,  6 

,,      productus,  6 
Nilgai,  the,  14,  45 
Notornis  albus,  5 

Nototrenia.    See  Frogs,  Marsupial 
Nyala,  18 

Ocelot,  the,  31 
Oestrelata  haesitata,  7 
Okapi,  the,  16,  17,  69,  140,  143 
Olm,  the,  325,  326 
Ophidiidae,  327 
Opossum,  the,  70,  in,  342 
,,         single-striped,  34 
„         three-striped,  30,  34 

water,  31,  34 

Orang,  the,  108,  114,  143,  148,  303 
Oryctcropus.     See  Aard-vark 
Oryx,  the,  131 

,,      beatrix,  132 

,,      leucoryx,  131 
Ostrich,  the,  69,  141,  227 
Otocyon,  199 
Otter,  the,  142,  217,  219 

,,      sea,  218-24 
Oven-bird,  the,  71 
Ovibos  moschatus.     See  Musk-ox 
Ovisy  50 
Ovula,  359 
Owls,  322 
Oxen,  domesticated,  39,  49 

„      wild,  52,  71,  293-302 

Paca,  the,  31 
PachyrucuS)  84 
Palaeornis  exsul>  6 
Palaeotherium,  88 


INDEX 


381 


Palm-civet,  the,  116 

Panda,  the  great,  168,  169 

Pangolins,  the,  £04 

Panochthus.    See   Glyptodon  Tuber- 

culated 

Papio.     See  Baboon 
Paradise,  the  birds  of,  109 
"Parallelism,"  237 
Peludo,  the,  93 
Pera miles  gunni,  32 
Peripatus,  368,  369,  373 
Petaurista,  241,  243 
Petrel,  the  burrowing,  7 
Phalacrocorax  perspidllatus,  5 
Phalanger,  the  feather-tailed,  243 

pigmy  flying,  243 

Phalangers,  the,  109,  in,  237,  242 
Phoca  leonina,  230 
Phocaena  sfinipinnis,  309 
Phyllobates,  345,  366 
Phyllomedusa  hypochondrialis,  362 

„  iheringt,  362 

Pichiciago,  the,  88 
"Pigeon  hollandais"  6 
Pigs,  28,  34,  35,  39,  81,  "o,  i"» 

263,  264,  355 
Pike,  the  bony,  157 
Pipa  americana.     See  Toad,  Surinam 
Pipe-fish,  347,  348 
Plesiosaurs,  225 
Poecilogale,  30 

„          albinucha,  170 
Fotana,  30 

Polecat,  the  Cape,  30,  37,  170 
Polypedates  maculatus,  363 
Porcupine,  the,  115 

,,          brush-tailed,  143 
Porpoise,  the,  308-13 

,,         Croatian,  310 

Japanese,  308,  309,  331 
Potamogale,  142 
Pottos,  the,  142,  151 
Proboscis  monkey,  the,  173 
Procavia,  140 
Prongbuck,  the,  14 
Fropataeokoplophorus.        See     Glyp- 
todon Pigmy 
Protective  coloration.     See  pp.  8-38, 

167-170,     and    259,    316,    319, 

•3C  A 

Proteles.    See  Aard-wolf 
Proteus,  326 
Protopterus,  349 
Przewalski's  horse,  the,  54 
Ptarmigan,  the,  136 
Pteromys>  241 


Ptychodus,  161 

Puma,  the,  n,  30,  35,  355 

Quagga,  the,  4,  18,  140,  143,  253-60 
Quail,  the  New  Zealand,  6 

Raia  c/avata,  161 
Raiidae,  161 
Rana  opisthodon,  366 
Ray,  the  beaked,  160 
,,  >»  eagle,  159 

„     eagle,  159,  1 60,  162 
Rays,  the,  157-61 

"  Recognition  marks,"  10,  13,  23,  24 
Red  grouse,  the,  136 
Reindeer,  the,  69,  268 
Rhacophorus  eques,  363 

,,  reticulatus )  365 

„  schlegeli.        See      Frog 

Japanese 
Rhea,  the,  71,  74 
Rhinobatidae,  160 
RhinobatiS)  160 

Rhinoceros,  the,  20,  69,  71,  81,  94, 
140,  144,  226,  263 

„  woolly,  226,  296 

Rhinodernia    darivini.      See    Frog, 

Darwin's 
Rhinoptera^  159 
Rhodeus  amarus,  349 
River-hog.    See  Capivara 
Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  the,  69 
Roebuck,  the,  60,  61 
Rorqual,  the  blue.     See  under  Whale 
Rusadeer,  the,  113 

Sable  antelope,  the,  19,  20 

Sabre-horned  oryx,  the,  131 

Saiga,  the,  132,  178 

Sambar,  the.     See  under  Deer 

Sandgrouse,  the,  130,  131 

Sand-mole,  the,  143 

Sandpiper,  the  Tahiti  white-winged,  5 

Saurodelphis,  313 

Scelidothere,  the,  79,  102,  103,  106 

Sciuropterus  volans^  241 

„  volueella,  241 

Sciurus,  240 

„        madagascariensiS)  179 
Scorpions,  368-75 
Screamer,  the  horned,  72 
Sea-bear,  the,  228,  232,  233 
Sea-cow,  the  Northern,  228 
Sea-elephant,  the,  228-34 
Sea-horses,  the,  348 
Sea-lion,  the,  228,  230,  232,  233 


INDEX 


Seals,  the  eared,  228,  230,  233 
„      fur,  220 

„      true  or  earless,  228,  232 
Seriema,  the,  72,  79 
Serval,  30 
Shark,  the  basking,  228 

„      great  white,  228 

„      Port  Jackson,  157,  162,  163 
Sheep,  the  Barbary,  50,  51 

„       domesticated,  39,  40,  41 

„      fat-tailed,  283 

„       four-horned,  282, 283,  284,  285 

„       Rocky  Mountain,  69 

„      unicorn,  285,  286 

„       wild,  50,  71,  280,  281 
Shorthorn,  the,  52 
Shrew,  the  jumping,  139 
Sika,  the.     See  under  Deer 
Siluridae.     See  Cat-fish 
Sinella,  329 

Sing-sing  waterbuck,  the,  46 
Skates,  the,  157,  158 
Skink,  the,  130 
Skunks,  the,  30,  36,  169,  170 
Sloth,  the,  70,  75,  98,  100,  106 

,,     giant  ground.     See  Megalothe- 
rium 

„     ground,  75,  78,  79,  80  (note), 
101,  102,  103,  104,  105,  106, 

107, 225,  226,  315,  318,  320 

„     pigmy  ground,    97,    103,  104, 

105,  106 

,,     three-toed,  98,  314-21 
,,     two-toed,  98,  99,  314-21 

Slow-lemurs,  the,  314 

Slugs,  122,  123 

Snakes,  130 

Snow-moukey,  the.     See  Snub-nosed 
Monkey  Slaty 

Snub-nosed  monkey,  the  orange.  174, 

175 

„  „         slaty,  176 

Solenostema,  347 
Spea  bombifrons,  365 
,,    hammondi)  365 
Specifics^  199 
Spider-monkeys,  150 
Springbok,  the,  129 
Squalodon,  312,  313 
Squirrel,  the  African   flying.       Vide 

infra 

,,        African      scaly-tailed,      235, 
236,  237,  238,  239,    240, 

243 

„        palm,  30 
„        pigmy  flying,  241 


Squirrel,  true  flying,  236-43 

,,        woolly  flying,  242 
Starling,  the  crested  pied,  6 
Sticklebacks,  the,  349 
Stoat,  the.     See  Ermine 
Strombidae,  353,  355 
Suricata.     See  Meerkat 
Surinam  toad,  342,  364 
Syngnathtis,  348 

Tamarau,  the,  112,  305,  306 

Tamias,  the,  30 

Tapir,  the,  n.  20,  28,  31,  34,  71,  87 

Tarpan,  the,  54,  56 

Tarsier,  the,  113,  114,  151,  152 

"  Tchru-tchra."        See      Snub-nosed 

Monkey  Slaty 
Testudo  abingdoni,  4 

.,       atlas,  331,  338 

,,       daudini,  338 

„       ehphantina,  339 

„       cmys.     See  Tortoise,  Siwalik 

„      gigantea,  338 

„       grandidieri.      See    Tortoise, 
Malgasy 

„       indica,  4,  33°" 

„       inepta,  4,  332 

„      perpiniana,  332 

„       radiata,  334 

„       robusta,  332 

„       sumeirei.          See     Tortoise, 
Seychelles 

„       triserratay  4 

„       vosmaeri,  4,  336 
Theropithecus.     See  Gelada  Baboon 
Thornback,  the,  161 
Thylacine,  the,  31,  34 
Tiger,  the,  8,  31,  35,  175 
Tiger-cat,  the,  30 
Tinamous,  the,  71 
Toad,   the   Surinam,   342,  343,  344, 

347,  364 
Toad  cowry,  the  Surinam.    See  under 

Cowry 

Toads,  342,  361 

Tortoise,  the,  90,  121,  122,  331-40 
„        atlas,  227 
„         giant  land,  4,  332 
„        Malagasy,  336 

North  Aldabra,  339 
„         Rodriguez,  336 
„         Seychelles,  337 

Siwalik,  331,  332,  334,  339 
South    Aldabra,    334,   337, 

338,  339 
Toxodon,  the,  76, 79,  8 1 , 82, 83, 84,  226 


INDEX 


383 


Tragelaphus  scripttts,  32 
Tree-mouse,  the,  142 
Tsetse-fly,  the,  40 
Turtle,  the,  90 
Typhlicthys,  327 
TyphlomiS)  328 
Typotherium,  the,  83,  84 

Uintatheres,  the,  85 

Unau,  the.     See  Sloth,  Two-toed 

Vicunas,  the,  70 
Vipers,  341 
Viscacha,  the,  70,  74 
Viverra  megaspila,  30 
Vulpes,  199 

Wallaby,  the,  46,  47 
Walrus,  the,  228 
Wapiti,  the,  13,  44,  69 
"Warning  colours,"  10,  19,  37, 

170 

Wart-hogs,  the,  139 
Water-chevrotain,  the,  142,  143 
Water-hen,  the  great  white,  5 
Water-vole,  the  black,  211 
Weasel,  the,  218 


[69, 


Weasel,  South  African,  30,  37,  170 
Whale,  the,  89 

„       blue  rorqual,  228 

„       Greenland  white,  228 

„      killer,  311 

„       sperm,  228 

„      toothed,  311,  313 
Whalebone,  311 
Wildebeest,  the,  252 
Wolf,  the,  69,  199,  200,  201,  202 

„      prairie.     See  Coyote 
Wood-hewers,  the,  71 
Worms,  123 


Zebra,  Burchell's,  16,  18,  31,  253,  258, 

259 

„      Grant's,  18,  258 
„      Grevy's,  15,  16,  31,  44 
„      mountain,  31 

Zebra-antelope,  the,  28,  31,  35,  143 

Zebra-hybrids,  42,  43 

Zebras,  9,  28,  31,  35,  43,  44,  47,  140, 
141,  143.  144.  168,  237,  259 

"  Zebroids,"  43 

Zenkerella,  142,  239,  240,  243 

Zeuglodon,  310,  311,  312 


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